Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

© Panuwat Dangsungnoen | Dreamstime.com By 14 April 2020, a total 25,936 cases of Covid-19 infection had been recorded in Switzerland, a rise of 3,683 over the preceding 7 days. However, despite the continued rise in cases there are indications measures to slowdown the spread of the virus are working. New daily infections since the start of April 2020 from four different sources presented in the chart below all show a broadly downward trend. It is important to note...

On 26 March 2020, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced it would lend unlimited money to banks to shore up the economy. © Swisshippo | Dreamstime.comIts COVID-19 refinancing facility (CRF), is aimed at strengthening the supply of credit to the Swiss economy by providing the banking system with additional liquidity. The SNB said there would be no upper limit on the amounts available, and drawdowns could be made by banks at any time, enabling banks to expand their lending rapidly and on...

On 16 April 2020, the Swiss government presented its plan for emerging from its coronavirus shutdown. © Viorel Dudau | Dreamstime.comOver the last few days the number of recorded new daily infections has been far below the worst days experienced since the outbreak began. In March 2020, daily new cases regularly exceed 1,000, occasionally exceeding 1,300. Over the last two days they have been around 400, a figure that varies depending on how data collection delays are handled. Slow down...

© Arseniy Rogov | Dreamstime.com The number of new recorded Covid-19 cases is slowing in Switzerland. By 8 April 2020 the total number of recorded cases was 23,574 according to Switzerland’s health authority. Comparing the number of new cases on day to day basis can be misleading, particularly over the weekend when counting is sometimes interrupted. However, if the numbers are smoothed and compared on a week by week basis these counting timing distortions are less...

On 8 April 2020, Switzerland’s government decided to extend the country’s lockdown measures for a further week. © Sorin Colac | Dreamstime.comIn a press release the Federal Council said the measures would be extended for another week and then possibly progressively loosened before the end of April. The measures have proved to be effective with the spread of the virus clearly reducing over recent days, said the statement. However, given the evolution of the spread and scientific...

© Katarzyna Bialasiewicz | Dreamstime.com 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...

© 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...

Tourism is one of the sectors hardest hit by the coronavirus and the response to it. © Erfphotog | Dreamstime.comFigures from a study by HES-SO Valais published by the newspaper Blick suggest the industry will see revenues in Switzerland drop 18%, or CHF 6.4 billion, in 2020. The hotel sector alone, which generates around CHF 10 billion annually, could lose CHF 2 billion if the shutdown lasts until the end of May, according to the forecast. The cancelation of events in Geneva,...

© blurf | Dreamstime.com 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. By 26 March 2020, South Korea had conducted 364,942 tests, a rate of 7,090 test per million, while Switzerland had conducted 91,400 Covid-19 tests, a rate of 10,665 tests per million....

© Peter Ekvall | Dreamstime.com 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. The all-in rate The first is to take the number of deaths so far...