Corona infected people in Austria become younger and younger

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The bulk of those infected with the coronavirus affects the group of 20- to 64-year-olds, and overall the age of SARS-CoV-2-positive people continues to taper. The Corona Traffic Light Commission’s evaluation criteria for its Thursday meeting showed that in calendar week 14, about 69 percent fell into the 20- to 64-year-old age group among incidence cases, and about 17 percent were younger.

According to the Traffic Light Commission, while they were still 46.7 years old on average in calendar week two, the average in calendar week 15 was only 38.3 years old. Conversely, the Corona pandemic is becoming less of a problem in nursing homes. There, a “relevant decrease” in new infections, active cases and clusters could be recorded since the beginning of the year. In addition to prevention measures, the commission attributed this to the “now relatively high vaccination coverage rate in this population group.”

The traffic light commission expressly warned against expectations that the situation would rapidly ease. It pointed to corresponding forecasts: on April 14, the Covid-specific load in intensive care units throughout Austria was 29 percent (plus, of course, those intensive care beds needed for other medical cases, note). By April 28, the Covid-specific load is expected to drop to 25.8 percent, or 521 cases, but that was further described as a “high level.”

And in the federal capital, Covid-related exposure in intensive care units remains above the system-critical exposure limit of 33 percent, he said. Lower Austria and Burgenland will not fall below that level until near the end of the forecast period on April 28.

The Traffic Light Commission pointed out that most hospitalizations continue to come from the over-65 group. However, during the forecast period, vaccination progress in this age group is estimated to be too low to have a significant impact on hospitalization rates. This age group should be considered a priority with regard to the vaccination strategy. The commission recommended that all affected states “continue to implement measures in hospitals to manage the present burden.”