The highest corona wave in Austria – since the start of wastewater analyzes – has probably passed its peak. The numbers would now drop again, molecular biologist Ulrich Elling said on Thursday. “There may still be some uncertainty in the data due to snowmelt, but overall it clearly looks like we have passed the peak.”
The molecular biologist said this on Thursday in the Ö1 “Mittagsjournal”. In the analyses, the amount of virus is compared to the total amount of wastewater and this is “very diluted” by the melting of the snow, but this is taken into account. Another uncertainty is the emergence of the Omicron subvariant JN1, which could prolong the wave or lead to a new peak within a few weeks. Overall, the risk of Long Covid has decreased with newer variants, studies show.
Hospital admissions for respiratory diseases
According to Elling, flu numbers will peak around Christmas, but RS virus levels are already higher than last year (see also video above). “We have been recording a significant increase in the number of hospital admissions for about two to four weeks,” says pulmonologist Arshang Valipour of the Viennese clinic Floridsdorf. Many patients with respiratory diseases are elderly or have comorbidities or their last vaccination was more than six months ago. Two of those affected currently have an acute Covid-19 infection in hospital.
Here you can see the development of the Corona figures.
Quarantine cannot be compared to illness
Moreover, a quarantine, which was previously necessary after contact with infected people, cannot be compared to a disease. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled this on Thursday in Luxembourg. The background is a case from Germany. An employee of a savings bank in Rhineland-Palatinate wanted to go on holiday in December 2020, but had to go into quarantine the day before because he had been in contact with a person who tested positive at work. He then applied for a loan, but the savings bank refused.
This approach has now been confirmed by the Court of Justice. The purpose of the holiday is to recover from work. Quarantine does not fundamentally contradict this, it was said. The employer is therefore not obliged to compensate disadvantages resulting from an unforeseeable event. However, EU countries could also impose other requirements on employees.
Source: Krone
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