Regular virus tests can curb infection rates Federal Laboratory for Materials Testing and Research Dübendorf, St. Gallen und Thun, 07.05.2021 - Since February 2021, the canton of Grisons is using saliva-based PCR mass testing within its mobile workforce as a potential means to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce infection rates. Empa researchers are now leading the analysis of data from the first eight weeks of the testing regime. They observed a reduction in the incidence rate between 20 and 50%, depending on the business sector, and a noticeable reduction in the test positivity rate among those who were regularly tested. This suggests that viral propagation can indeed be contained through regular mass testing.
Researchers investigate ski resorts to assess risk of COVID-19 infection
Where do the greatest risks of infection lurk? How can you protect yourself and others even better? Scientists all over the world are working to expand knowledge about Covid-19 – including at Empa. Researchers are now using measurements and simulations to take a close look at cable cars and cabins in ski resorts.
Covid-19 is difficult to assess, and complex mathematical models to quantify infection risks are ultimate attempts to approximate reality – also in the case of ski resorts and the many people who hang out on the ski slopes.
This is why a team led by Ivan Lunati of Empa s Multiscale Studies in Building Physics lab began its work in precisely this reality: in the cable cars and cabins of the Engelberg-Trübsee-Titlis ski resort.