The Omicron variant appears to be steering the pandemic in a new direction. More contagious than any previous variant, it will probably be the dominant variant in Südbünden as well in the next few days. It is possible that the number of cases will rise faster than ever before. Companies in all sectors should prepare for this.
Although it is possible to hope that the course of the disease due to Omicron will be more mild, the sharply increased number of cases will pose an enormous challenge for healthcare and companies in all sectors. In addition to patients, there will be a great many people who will have to remain in quarantine and will not show up for work. This is especially true if quarantine regulations should be tightened again. The “Corona II Engadin” task force has already pointed out to companies in all sectors that they should prepare for numerous staff shortages.
This scenario has already occurred at the Corvatsch-Pontresina Swiss Ski School. 20 out of 95 employees have tested positive and are in isolation. “Our class lessons in Pontresina are cancelled this week, but the guests react with understanding and are flexible,” says managing director Stephan Müller. His school is counting on “2G” for this season.
A decision that has now proven effective: “Because all of our employees have recovered or have been vaccinated, we can now continue working with the remaining people.” Skiservice Corvatsch, the largest sports retailer in Graubünden with 14 branches, currently has no cases among its 100 employees. Managing Director Conradin Conrad is nevertheless prepared to react to staff shortages: “If a lot of staff were to go missing, we would have to thin out our offering. Our planning ranges from individual staff transfers to closing individual branches, if that would be necessary.”
Omicron will shake us
The Omicron variant is significantly more contagious than the previously dominant delta variant. Experts assume that the increase in the number of cases is likely to come much faster than in previous waves of the pandemic. For this reason, the federal and cantons will probably have no choice but to take new measures to protect hospitals from overloading. Among other things, the reintroduction of quarantine for contact persons of infected people is being discussed: Vaccinated employees would also have to go into quarantine if they had contact with an infected person.
Entire teams could suddenly drop out if one team member tested positive. Exactly how the rules will change over the next two weeks is not yet clear. However, it is obvious that more staff losses must be expected. Companies in the region must not only keep an eye on their own teams. Suppliers and service providers could also be forced to reduce their supply or temporarily close operations due to staff shortages.
In addition, it must be expected that central tourist offers in the region could be reduced, as the example of the Corvatsch-Pontresina ski school shows.
Central areas must continue
Whether sports retailer, ski school, hotel or municipal administration: In order to be able to ensure the continuation of operations for as long as possible, each company should identify the parts that must not fail. It is then necessary to consider how they can be kept running in the event of staff absences. For example, employees from other, less central areas can help out or former or retired employees can be reactivated. Practical protection against infections should not be forgotten in all simulation games.
Employees who have a lot of contact with other people, such as guests, customers or different teams in a company, should wear FFP2 masks. These protect their carriers and their environment from aerosols, which may contain corona viruses. In order to identify infections at an early stage, companies should regularly test all their employees, even if they have been vaccinated. Fear of quarantine is out of place here: If an infection is not detected because a company is not carrying out tests, it can quickly become a major outbreak and paralyze the entire company.
In such a case, the damage is significantly greater than a few days of quarantine for a person or their team.
This article by Christian Gartmann first appeared in the Engadiner Post on 28.12.2021.
Christian Gartmann is the initiator and project manager of the “Corona II Engadin” task force.