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14.08.2020 – In Austria there are 282 new infections. Health Minister Anschober attributes this to the high number of tests.
The number of SARS-CoV-2 tests in Austria has risen significantly, as has the number of new infections. “We have the fact that we have passed a really important mark today. We have more than one million tests. (…) Today (within 24 hours) we have 282 new infections,” Health Minister Rudolf Anschoberin announced Vienna on Friday.
“We have 1,003,432 tests. That is a sign that we are very active in the field,” said the head of department. In the period from 4 to 13 April, about 50,000 tests would have been carried out in Austria, from 4 to 13 August already 81,000. This would have been achieved mainly by the screening programme in addition to the investigation of suspected cases. In the first period, the share of SARS-CoV-2 positive tests had been 5.5 percent, in the last period 1.5 percent.
Change in the age pyramid
The development is in line with expectations after the acute phase in spring and the opening steps. According to the Minister, the particularities are: many small clusters, 24 per cent of positive tests are carried out in non-symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected persons and relatively many travel-associated infections. Finally, as Anschober explained, “We are seeing a complete change in the age pyramid.” Whereas at the beginning of the pandemic it was mainly the elderly who were affected, now the 15 to 24-year-olds are the most frequently tested positive in Austria. “We have an average age (of the newly positive tested persons) of 33.7 years in Austria,” said Anschober. In Germany it is 34 years.
Most recently, the number of new infections per day was in the low three-digit range at most. The 282 new infections from Thursday to Friday are a new fact here. However, according to the minister: “The number of hospitalizations has decreased slightly by four to 110. Of these – and also with three cases less than before – there are currently 19 people in intensive care units.
- Hector Pascua, with reports from austrian newspapers
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