The temptation to relax is great: In the sweaty temperatures, it would be useful to waive the mask requirement. And with the steadily decreasing number of infections, further opening steps would also be obvious. The Federal Council is now also considering easing the situation.
But this is exactly what the world physician chief Frank Ulrich Montgomery is now warning of. The 69-year-old strongly advises against hasty relaxation. The reason for the continued caution is the (Indian) Delta variant of the coronavirus. This spreads faster than previous versions of the pathogen – and is already causing the tough protective measures to return in several countries.
Delta variant seals off Lisbon
The Portuguese capital Lisbon has meanwhile developed into a hotspot for the Delta variant. Most recently, 928 cases were reported there within 24 hours. A severe relapse for the country that was badly shaken by the pandemic in the spring and has since developed in an exemplary manner thanks to strict measures.
According to Montgomery, the insidious thing about the Delta variant is that infected people very quickly have a very high viral load in their throat. “This way you can infect others before you even notice that you have become infected,” the radiologist told the German media.
In Portugal, the authorities have reacted radically to the recent spread and cordoned off the capital.
England had to postpone Freedom Day
Because of the variant that first appeared in India, other countries must also slow down the easing steps that have already been planned. For example in Wales: “We have checked all the data and will postpone the changes to the rules by four weeks,” tweeted Welsh Prime Minister Mark Drakeford (66) on Thursday. Wales still has the highest vaccination rate and the lowest corona numbers in the United Kingdom. However, cases of the delta variant have now been detected in all parts of the country.
At the beginning of the week Prime Minister Boris Johnson (56) had already postponed the longed-for “Freedom Day” and the associated easing for England. There, too, the delta variant caused the number of cases to explode again.
World medical chief Montgomery fears that mistakes from last summer could repeat themselves if governments let themselves be carried away to premature easing and in the late summer too many still unvaccinated travelers return home.
Corona vaccination protects «fairly well» from Delta variants
The Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) also has the Delta variant on its radar, as Virginie Masserey, head of the Infection Control and Vaccination Program Section, said at a press conference last Wednesday. In Switzerland, the proportion of this pathogen version is still relatively low, said the 56-year-old. “We absolutely have to keep that under control.”
Masserey sees the key to containment in the corona vaccination. Those who are fully vaccinated are “fairly well” protected from the delta variant. (cat / SDA)