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Hospitals unlikely to be pushed to limits by Covid Omicron

Care workers in a blue protective suits in a hospital room
Staff shortages in hospitals are a potential risk of the Omicron variant of Covid. © Keystone/Gaetan Bally

Researchers from Switzerland and Germany say the Omicron variant of Covid is unlikely to push the healthcare systems to breaking point.

Omicron is significantly more infectious but seemingly less severe than the Delta variant, the Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and TechnologyExternal link said on Thursday.

A team of experts modelled different scenarios for the coming months for Switzerland and neighbouring Germany, using three separate viral reproduction rates – 1.3, 1.5 and 1.8 as the worst-case scenario.

“The Omicron variant is unlikely to cause record numbers of admissions to ICUs (…) even under unfavourable conditions,” a statement said.

However, they warn that certain risks remain, notably staff shortages in hospitals and limited capacities in Covid diagnosis.

The main findings appear to back up calls by the Swiss business community and right-wing and centrist political parties to ease restrictions, including the work-from-home rule and the use of the Covid health certificate.

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Coronavirus: the latest numbers

This content was published on Here is an overview of the most important Swiss-related coronavirus data and graphs, which are updated automatically.

Read more: Coronavirus: the latest numbers

The Federal Office for Public Health on Thursday announced 44,842 confirmed new infections and 149 hospital admissions. This is a 20% and a 12% increase in the seven-day average of infections and hospitalisations, according to statistics by the SRF public broadcaster.

The number of patients in intensive care has been decreasing over the past week.

The reproduction rate is 1.2 in Switzerland based on latest data from January 14.

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