The World Health Organization (WHO) reported last week that the corona pandemic will end intuition is. But what does it mean for the arrival of autumn and winter? In any case, we must take into account that the coronavirus will cause a lot of nuisance in the coming months, says virologist Marion Koopmans at NU.nl.
We can’t leave the coronavirus behind this winter, Koopmans thinks.
“We have to seriously consider that the virus will cause discomfort. The number of hospitalizations will likely be lower than in previous waves, but it will not be zero. And certainly there is not much space in hospitals in winter,” says the virology professor at Erasmus MC.
Koopmans refers to the wave of flu that leads to many hospitalizations each year. For the crown, this also led to shortages in hospitals and even then sometimes the operations had to be canceled because there was no more space.
Expected increase in hospital admissions
There are now more than four hundred corona patients in a hospital ward. At the height of last summer’s corona wave, there were just over a thousand of them. There were several dozen people with corona in the intensive care units throughout the summer.
Koopmans predicts an increase in the number of hospital admissions, despite the unpredictability of the virus. “How big that number will be also depends, for example, on the new variants.”
“Our care is not set up in such a way that we have a great reserve.”
Marion Koopmans, virologist
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“Even if the increase isn’t dramatic, it will likely be a lot more than it is now,” he explains. “Suppose a crown wave and a wave of influence come together, then things can go fast again. Our cures are not set up to have a sizable reserve. patients, nothing else can not be done. “
For this he stresses the importance of “basic measures”: staying at home in case of complaints, doing self-tests, being aware of vulnerable people and good ventilation.
“I think it went too far. I also miss the public information in that,” he says. “Of course everyone can have fun, I like it too. But the virus hasn’t gone away. Keep in mind that we always have problems with infections in the fall.”
The virologist Erasmus MC takes into account the fact that next winter there will also be a partial advice to work from home. Just like the advice to keep your distance and avoid crowds. Stronger intervention may also be needed, but he doesn’t dare predict what will be required.
Corona and flu can lead to crowds in hospitals.
Corona and flu can lead to crowds in hospitals. Photo: Getty Images
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“Vaccination is important to prevent measures”
If you want to postpone corona measurements for as long as possible, according to medical microbiologist Marc Bonten, it is very important that as many people as possible get vaccinated.
“Let’s hope it’s the first winter without measures. This is thanks to vaccines and partly to all infections,” says the medical microbiologist from UMC Utrecht. “Anyone who certainly does not want measures should be vaccinated.”
This week, search for I&O research that the will to get a repeat shot is much less than the will to get the first crown shots at that moment. Two-thirds of people who have received a booster also say they will perform the next repeat shot.
Bonten doesn’t dare say if this will create enough immunity. “That may be enough. But if it proves insufficient, it is already too late.” He therefore believes that the government should explain the importance of repeating the “really better” injection.
Marjolein Knoester, medical microbiologist at the UMCG, predicts that the crown measurements will end after next winter. “The corona wave is expected to decrease slightly every year as our immune systems get used to the variants, especially if a large group of people are also vaccinated.”
“I expect this to be the last winter that we are all busy with this virus. Then we will have a virus that causes flu-like symptoms in the winter. But we shouldn’t be celebrating too soon. We still have to get through this winter,” they point out.
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