by © Sudok1 | Dreamstime.com By 31 March 2020, there were around 326 Covid-19 patients in intensive care and 228 on ventilators in Switzerland. It is estimated that there are around 750 ventilators across the country. If the health system reaches overload, medical professionals in Switzerland might be forced to make the kinds of difficult decisions being made in ...
Topics:
Investec considers the following as important: 3) Swiss Markets and News, 3.) Health, Coronavirus Switzerland, Covid-19 Switzerland, Editor's Choice, Featured, health, newsletter
This could be interesting, too:
Investec writes Swiss to vote on tenancy laws this weekend
Eamonn Sheridan writes CHF traders note – Two Swiss National Bank speakers due Thursday, November 21
Charles Hugh Smith writes How Do We Fix the Collapse of Quality?
Marc Chandler writes Sterling and Gilts Pressed Lower by Firmer CPI
© Sudok1 | Dreamstime.com
By 31 March 2020, there were around 326 Covid-19 patients in intensive care and 228 on ventilators in Switzerland.
It is estimated that there are around 750 ventilators across the country.
If the health system reaches overload, medical professionals in Switzerland might be forced to make the kinds of difficult decisions being made in neighbouring France and Italy. According to RTS, some patients have been transferred to Switzerland from France, where hospitals are already overloaded.
In 2013, the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS) formulated a code of ethics to guide these difficult decisions. On 20 March 2020, as coronavirus infections started to climb, SAMS decided to make this ethical guidance public.
As long as sufficient resources are available, all patients requiring intensive care are admitted and treated. If an emergency situation occurs with a large number of seriously ill patients, rationing decisions must be made. Patients with COVID-19 are treated according to the same criteria as all other patients.
The code follows three central principles. Resources are to be allocated without discrimination based on age, sex, residence, nationality, religious affiliation, social or insurance status, or chronic disability. Medical staff whose health is at greater risk in the event of infection with the coronavirus should not be deployed in the care of patients with COVID-19. And, under conditions of acute scarcity, decisions are guided by the aim of minimising the number of deaths.
If intensive care unit capacity is exhausted and not all patients who require intensive care can be admitted, short-term patient prognosis is decisive for the purposes of triage.
Age is not to be applied as a criterion. It is however, indirectly taken into account under the main criterion of short-term prognosis – older people more frequently suffer from comorbidity, a COVID-19 risk factor.
Criteria such as lotteries, first come first served, and prioritisation according to social usefulness are not to be applied, according to the guidance.
You Might Also Like
Coronavirus: infection rates in some Swiss cantons now higher than Lombardy
Lombardy, the region in northern Italy where the coronavirus outbreak first took off in Europe, now has fewer per capita cases testing positive for the virus than some Swiss cantons. Recent data from Italy show there were 179 cases per 100,000 in Lombardy. In Ticino, Switzerland’s worst affected canton, there were 329 cases per 100,000. Geneva (231) and Vaud (211) had Switzerland’s next highest rates.
Coronavirus: a test to see if you’ve had it is in the pipeline
Coronavirus testing has been rationed in Switzerland, reserving it for high risk more severe cases, although doctors retain discretion to have anyone tested. It is likely those that have been infected and have recovered will have immunity and no longer be able to act as carriers of the disease.
Coronavirus: the fallibility of fatality rates
Naturally, many of us would like to know the fatality rate of Covid-19. But at this stage it is guesswork. Here are some of the problems with two of the most popular fatality rates. The most popular calculation involves dividing the number deaths by the number of cases. Epidemiologists call this a naive case fatality rate (CFR). There are two ways to calculate this rate.
Coronavirus: Swiss test rate now higher than South Korea’s
This morning, Switzerland’s federal government announced the number of Covid-19 tests conducted so far in Switzerland. South Korea, a nation often cited among those with high test rates, now trails Switzerland on the number per capita tests it has conducted.
Coronavirus: loss of smell indicates “very high likelihood” of infection
While there is currently no scientifically proven link between anosmia (loss of smell) and Covid-19, more and more experts are saying the symptom is a strong indicator. Gilbert Greub, head of the microbiology department at the CHUV hospital in Lausanne, is one such expert. “Given the widespread Covid-19 epidemic, I think that everyone who has a problem tasting or a problem smelling has a very high likelihood of testing positive and should be tested.
Coronavirus: youngest death so far brings Swiss death toll to four
The coronavirus has claimed its fourth victim in Switzerland. A 54 year old man died yesterday in Binningen hospital in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, according to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
Coronavirus: Swiss hospitals have around 750 breathing ventilators
One of the biggest challenges during the coronavirus outbreak will be ensuring there are enough qualified staff and equipment to keep the worst affected patients alive. Thierry Fumeaux, head of the Swiss Society of Intensive Medicine, told RTS there are 82 intensive care units (ICU) across Switzerland. These have a combined 850 places, of which 750 are equipped with breathing equipment. It is not clear how many of these places are currently available.
Swiss government announces further restrictions to slow spread of virus
At a press conference at 5pm on 16 March 2020, members of the Federal Council presented a list of further restrictions designed to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus, that will become active from midnight tonight. A video of the conference can be viewed below.
Tags: Coronavirus Switzerland,Covid-19 Switzerland,Editor's Choice,Featured,Health,newsletter