Omikron: The Salzburg laboratory also reports the first suspected case
After the federal states of Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Upper Austria, the state of Salzburg also had to report the appearance of the new virus variant on Monday. State medical director Petra Juhasz emphasizes, because of Omikron without waiting with the third vaccination.
It was only a matter of time before the first suspected case of the Corona variant “Omikron” WILL appear in Salzburg. On Monday, a positive sample from a Viennese who landed at Salzburg Airport on Friday from South Africa found indications of the new variant in the Salzburg Medilab laboratory. The exact sequencing will be carried out in the next few days by AGES (Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety). The man had apparently shown himself to a PCR test at his second home in a test street. The sample was therefore evaluated in Salzburg.
State medical director Petra Juhasz said that there is currently no knowledge of contact persons in Salzburg. The supra-regional contact tracing has started in full. All those returning home from South Africa should call 1450 with the password “Returning travelers South Africa”. Eight returnees reported by Monday afternoon, the test results are still pending.
Juhasz is of the opinion that the Omikron variant, like Delta, will not be stopped: “Initial findings indicate that it could be more contagious. It is important to me to emphasize: Please do not with the vaccination or with the booster adapted Also the previous vaccines should work against the new variant according to the state of knowledge. “
Nobody can currently say exactly how quickly the new virus variant will be with its spreading consequences. In any case, the situation in Salzburg’s hospitals remains extremely tense, even if the seven-day incidence on Monday was reduced to just under 1,400 infected people per 100,000 inhabitants (around 400 fewer than a week ago). Paul Sungler, Managing Director of the Salzburg State Clinics, fears that the number of corona patients will continue to rise this week due to the delay effect. At the moment, there is still a reserve of up to 30 beds in the normal wards and around 10 beds in the intensive care wards. Sungler emphasized that it was no longer possible to bring Covid patients to federal states or to Bavaria because they had reached capacity limits there too. “We’re on our own now.”
State statistician Gernot Filipp was cautiously optimistic based on the latest infection figures on Monday. The backlog courses are mainly due to the 2-G rule and the lockdown for unvaccinated people. The lockdown for everyone should hit next week. Filipp also agrees with the large number of third-party vaccinations, around 42,500 last week alone. That would also reduce the number of infections. With regard to a possible end of the lockdown from December 12th, the number of infections would have to decrease even faster. Christian Pucher, spokesman for Governor Wilfried Haslauer (ÖVP), said that decisions would be made in close coordination with the experts. So far, a lockdown duration of three to four weeks has been assumed.