General compulsory vaccination in the EU? + Four suspected Omikron cases in Vienna
The Austria-wide lock, which came into force nine days ago to contain the fourth corona wave, will have a positive effect on the infection rate in the coming days and die in hospitals overcrowded with Covid-19 sufferers Wochendown. This is what the Covid forecast consortium assumes in its current forecast. This should increase the chances that the lockdown, which is limited to December 11, can be lifted for vaccinated persons – at least in some areas.
“The current surface prognosis is delayed from the provisional high point of the fourth wave […] from a decline in the floor covering in intensive care and normal wards, ”the experts state on the situation in the hospitals. However, the decline is “still at a partially system-critical level of utilization”. The probability that the system-critical utilization limit of 33 percent in the intensive care area in Austria will be next Wednesday (December 8th) is five percent based on the forecast consortium, and 2.5 percent in the following week (December 15th).
However, the ICU capacities could become critical in Carinthia. With a probability of 99.5 percent, this will no longer be sufficient next Wednesday, based on December 15, the consortium still puts this at 85 percent. “In Carinthia, a significant reduction in the total ICU capacity (from 170 to 119) was recently reported, the Covid-19-specific ICU utilization forecast is based on the current ICU utilization,” notes the committee accordingly. In contrast, a noticeable relief for hospitals can be expected in other federal states.
In Tyrol, Vorarberg and Upper Austria there will be a sustained high demand for intensive care beds for people with severe Covid 19 disease, while the numbers should decline in Lower Austria, Salzburg and Styria. The experts are particularly optimistic about the situation in Burgenland and Vienna, where the probability that there will be too few intensive care beds will be below 0.5 percent in the coming week. However, the forecast does not take into account the transfer of Covid patients across the federal state border. Vienna has already taken over several seriously ill people from Salzburg and announced that it is ready to “step in” for other federal states as well.