The head cantonal doctor in Switzerland has warned that a new COVID wave is likely to hit the country in the autumn. Rudolf Hauri also estimated that there has been a massive underreporting of COVID cases, which he says is around 150.000 new infections a day.
Official figures from the Federal Office of Public Health reported around 25.000 to 35.000 cases every day in recent weeks. Despite the high number, Hauri says that this count is misleading and that the number of unreported cases is around five times higher than confirmed cases.
Virus circulation is currently very high in Switzerland, with case numbers and admissions to hospitals expected to rise to exceed the January wave. Decisions to scrap most COVID restrictions - such as the mask mandate - are accelerating the trend, Hauri says.
"The federal government and the cantons will deal with the increasing numbers in detail next week," Hauri noted. As far as he is concerned, Switzerland should keep the remaining COVID rules, which require masks on public transport and in Swiss healthcare, as well as the obligation to isolate if tested positive for COVID.
Hauri predicted that even though coronavirus will become a seasonal illness like the flu, a heightened caseload still poses a risk for all members of the population, both vaccinated and immune. When asked whether people in Switzerland should still take COVID seriously, he said that the virus had not disappeared just yet.