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usys.ethz.ch
![Microbiologist at ETH Zurich: Martin Ackermann becomes head of the Covid-19 task force on August 1st.]()
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Microbiologist at ETH Zurich: Martin Ackermann becomes head of the Covid-19 task force on August 1st.
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Keystone
![There are currently around 100 new infections each day in Switzerland.]()
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There are currently around 100 new infections each day in Switzerland.
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Keystone
![The corona numbers are relatively stable.]()
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The corona numbers are relatively stable.
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keystone-sda.ch
![The federal corona app has great potential, but its effectiveness still has to be checked.]()
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The federal corona app has great potential, but its effectiveness still has to be checked.
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The Covid 19 task force consists of around 70 scientists. Its task is to advise the federal government on questions relating to the corona virus. From August 1st, microbiologist Martin Ackermann takes over the leadership of the group from epidemiologist Matthias Egger. In an interview with the CH media newspapers he explains that he can live with around 100 new infections per day. “Yes, that’s fine,” Ackermann says when asked.
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Ackermann also comments on the Swiss Covid app. It is important to have good data on the epidemic in Switzerland, Ackermann said in the interview published on Wednesday. “It is crucial to know in which situations the infections take place.” Many actors are in the process of collecting this information.
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Check the effectiveness of the app
Contact tracers would find out who was probably infected where and the app had “great potential,” says the microbiologist at ETH Zurich. But the effectiveness of the app has yet to be checked. “For example, how many of the people notified have actually been infected.”
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For Ackermann, the app is “an important element among all the things we try out in the fight against the epidemic”. You now have to “reach the next group of people and convince them of the app”. According to the Federal Statistical Office, just under 945,700 people activated the app on their cell phones on Tuesday.
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Valuable information about vacation returnees
Ackermann also comments on vacation returnees – if you are coming from high-risk countries, you must report to the authorities and go to quarantine. Intercepting and registering all travelers at airports and borders is “not realistic”, even if this information is “very valuable”. This question had been discussed in detail and there was also the question of whether the population would support this approach.
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Ackermann believes that communication needs to improve. “People need to be aware that they are taking risks themselves when they travel to risky countries.”
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For the new task force leader, the question of what risk grandparents who take care of their grandchildren during the holidays is “still delicate”. “It has been proven that children get less sick and transmit the disease less often,” he says. “But it does happen.” Ackermann does not want to make a recommendation for grandparents. (SDA / noo)
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