italy Intensive care at risk of saturation Unless the trend changes, hospital intensive care units are likely to be full in ten days. This is the alarm cry launched on Tuesday by the Covid-19 task force, on the eve of the government meeting that should announce new measures. The progression of the pandemic shows no signs of stopping. In the last 24 hours, 5,949 new infections have been recorded, but above all 167 new hospitalizations and 16 deaths. The number of hospitalizations and deaths caused by the coronavirus is comparable to that of mid-March, when very restrictive measures were adopted, said Virginie Masserey, head of the communicable diseases unit at the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) at a press conference. ). The increase in infections is exponential, with 28.7% (Tuesday of the tested positive results on an average of 25,000 tests per day. A percentage - that of positive tests - much higher than in other European countries. this difference is mainly due to the fact that in the Confederation, people with symptoms are tested.

antibodies Scientists find signs of waning antibody immunity to COVID-19 over time in England Antibodies one aspect of murky coronavirus immunity picture Antibodies against the novel coronavirus declined rapidly in the population in England during the summer, according to a preprint posted on Tuesday, suggesting protection after infection may not be long-lasting and raising the prospect of waning immunity in the community. Scientists at Imperial College London have tracked antibody levels in the population in England following the first wave of COVID-19 infections in March and April. Their study found that antibody prevalence based on finger-prick tests of blood fell by a quarter, from six per cent of the population around the end of June to just 4.4 per cent in September. That raises the prospect of decreasing population immunity ahead of a second wave of infections in recent weeks that has forced local lockdowns and restrictions. Although immunity to the novel coronavirus is a complex and murky area and may be assisted by T cells as well as B cells, which can stimulate the quick production of antibodies following re-exposure to the virus, the researchers said the experience of other coronaviruses suggested immunity might not be enduring. "We can see the antibodies and we can see them declining and we know that antibodies on their own are quite protective," Wendy Barclay, head of the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London, told reporters. "On the balance of evidence I would say, with what we know for other coronaviruses, it would look as if immunity declines away at the same rate as antibodies decline away, and that this is an indication of waning immunity at the population level."