COVID-19: Decline in positivity rate after weeks of strong increase

The volume of repetitive, pooled PCR saliva tests as part of TOGETHER WE TEST reached a new high of 35’402  for the calendar week 49. At the same time, after a continuous strong increase in the positivity rate since the autumn holidays, a slight decrease was recorded again for the first time; the value was 6.25%, the same level as the previous week:

The repetitive tests ensure the early detection and isolation of people who carry the virus unnoticed. This is why they are an extremely important instrument for controlling pandemics, especially with this still high positivity rate; the measure makes a substantial contribution to slowing down the spread of the virus.

Time to Result

The processing time of the samples is a decisive factor. The "Time to Result" is the point in time at which a pooled sample is marked as ready for dispatch in the system and the transmission of the result. This value was 25.75 hours for calendar week 49. You can now find the "Time to Result" progression over the weeks at www.hirslanden.ch/twtstats.

The laboratory capacity of the 17 laboratories connected across Switzerland for TOGETHER WE TEST is around 150,000 tests per week. In the twelve contractual cantons, 8 882 schools and companies take part in the test program, and over 4.1 million individual tests have already been carried out.

For the latest figure, please seewww.hirslanden.ch/twtstats.

About Hirslanden

Together with private and public cooperation partners, the Hirslanden Group is concentrating on the continuum of care and the promotion of high-quality, responsible, efficient, integrated health care that is self-determined by the individual. Hirslanden is synonymous with first-class medical care provided by highly qualified medical specialists with many years of experience. As a system provider, the Group stands out from the rest of the market: interdisciplinary medical centres of expertise, and specialised institutes enable it to offer the best possible individualised treatment even in highly complex cases.

The Hirslanden Group operates 17 hospitals in 10 cantons, many of which have an emergency department. It also operates 4 outpatient surgical units, 17 radiology institutes and 5 radiotherapy institutes. The Group has 2,314 partner doctors and 10,711 employees, 479 of whom are permanently employed doctors. Hirslanden is the largest medical network in Switzerland. In the 2020/21 financial year, the Group generated a turnover of CHF 1,796 million (including CHF 12.6 million in cantonal COVID-19 compensation payments). As at 31 March 2021, the Group had treated 107,401 patients for a total of 461,004 inpatient days. In insurance terms, the patient mix consists of 51 % basic, 28.8 % semi-private, and 20.2 % private insured patients. The Hirslanden Group was formed in 1990 through the merger of several hospitals. Since 2007, it has been part of the international hospital group Mediclinic International plc, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange.