Because of the decline in testing, scientists see “increasing distortions” in the reported number of corona cases in Austria compared to the actual number of cases. The forecast experts on behalf of the Ministry of Health therefore refrained from making a numerical forecast of new infections for the coming week for the first time on Wednesday. However, the decline is likely to continue in both reported and actual infections, as well as in hospital numbers.
The experts from the Vienna University of Technology, MedUni Vienna and Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (GÖG) “assume that the dynamics of the reported number of cases do not reflect the current infection process,” says the preview. The scientists had already emphasized something similar in the past few weeks, but the situation is becoming even more uncertain, since the lifting of the quarantine from the beginning of August “can additionally influence the testing behavior in the forecast period”. “For this reason, there is no quantitative presentation of the reported case numbers and instead the focus is on a qualitative assessment of their trends.”
A more accurate picture of the pandemic in Austria is provided by the hospital numbers. Their decline should also continue, but not reach “the extent of the drop in the reported number of cases”. In the area of normal care, a occupancy level in the range of 777 to 1240 occupied beds is expected throughout Austria by August 17, with an average of 981 beds. Yesterday, Tuesday, there were still 1461 Covid patients in normal wards. In the intensive care units, occupancy is likely to fall from 86 to 50 to 83 (mean 65) over the same period.
Source: Nachrichten
