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Free corona tests will end in 2023.
Ruedi StuderBundeshaus Editor
Anyone who misses a corona vaccination in the future can also count on Father State in 2023. The spade stays free. Not so the Corona test. As of January 1st, the free tests will end.
Health insurance only pays if ordered by a doctor – but only when it comes to prescribing an antiviral Covid drug. But even then you may have to dig into your own pocket because of deductibles and deductibles.
The number of unreported cases increases
The new cost regime has consequences: test centers are already closing in droves, and the number of tests is declining. This will also reduce the number of confirmed new infections.
The trend is likely to intensify next year. The Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) expects “a significant reduction in the range of tests and the number of tests carried out,” says spokesman Simon Ming. “With regard to the reported number of cases, we assume that the number of unreported cases will again increase significantly.”
Abrupt system change “not optimal”
That also entails a certain risk, says the chief canton doctor, Rudolf Hauri (62). “The acute phase of the pandemic is certainly behind us.” Due to the low demand for boosters – especially among people who are particularly at risk – the unstable infection process this winter must still be carefully observed.
“The system change in the test cost financing in the cold season, which is also abrupt for the population, is therefore not optimal,” says the Zug canton doctor. “An extension of the previous test financing until around the end of March 2023 could have been well justified.”
Wastewater control is becoming more important
So will we be back in the pandemic blind flight from 2023? It shouldn’t be that bad. Because there are other monitoring elements that reflect the infection process. “In this respect, we are not flying blind,” emphasizes Hauri.
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While testing is losing importance as an element of surveillance of the epidemiological situation, wastewater control is now becoming even more important. “The wastewater monitoring that was well developed during the course of the pandemic and the experience we have gained with it are of great help to us in further assessing the development and assessment of the situation,” says Hauri.
Measurements at 50 sewage treatment plants
It sounds similar at the BAG. “Since the special situation was lifted in April 2022, assessing the relative viral load from wastewater has gained in importance,” says spokesman Ming. Although the wastewater monitoring will also be reduced next year for cost reasons, the viral load will still be measured in 50 sewage treatment plants. “National wastewater monitoring will continue to play a central role in the assessment of Sars-Cov2 and other pathogens in the future,” says Ming.
Wastewater monitoring also plays an important role for biostatistician Tanja Stadler (41), who used to be President of the Corona Task Force, because it “gives us very direct information about the development of the pandemic”.
More indicators will help
But there are other indicators from which conclusions can be drawn about the course of the pandemic. For example, the Sentinella reporting system with information from general practitioners or the monitoring of virus variants through sequencing.
“The number of hospitalizations is also informative,” says Stadler. “However, these show the development of the pandemic with a slight time lag, as it usually takes a few weeks from infection to notification of hospitalization.”
Hauri: “No new wave”
The latest figures show a renewed decline in confirmed new infections. On Thursday, the BAG reported 12,632 new cases for the past nine days. More than every fifth test is still positive – the number of unreported cases remains high.
“After a decline, the wastewater data indicate that the circulation of the virus is increasing again, which could be due to the spread of the new variant BQ.1.1,” says Stadler. Looking at the last autumn wave, one thing is clear to her: “Such waves will always come back in the future, triggered by new variants or the seasonality in autumn and winter.”
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Meanwhile, cantonal doctor Hauri believes it is important to pay particular attention to the longer-term results of wastewater monitoring and not to short-term fluctuations in individual measuring points in one direction or the other. For the moment, he is therefore giving the all-clear: “At the moment, the regular samples from the sewage collection points are now giving a stable picture with certainty: there are no new waves on the horizon.”