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In terms of test volumes, the situation in Switzerland is similar to the current situation in the United States and Europe. The percentage of positive responses in Switzerland is 27.9%. compared to 8.5 percent. In Sweden and 8.3 percent. In the U.S. According to the World Health Organization, more than 5% the indicator indicates that the virus is spreading uncontrollably.
A team of scientists advising the Swiss government on the pandemic has been sounding the alarm bells for some time. There will be a shortage of beds in hospital intensive care units in the coming days.
Normally world celebrities and politicians like former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would go for treatment in top-tier Swiss hospitals, but now France offers to admit Swiss COVID-19 patients, thus reducing the burden on the country’s hospitals.
The low death rate during the first wave of coronavirus seems to have reinforced Switzerland’s belief that the country is a “special case”, a unique country that has no problems in the world.
“Foreign policy”
So what has happened to this alpine country, famous for its impeccably clean streets, order, reliability, and good governance? On the one hand, the answer is simple: the Swiss government has so far refused to take the necessary restrictions to curb the virus, but the reasons for such resistance are much more complex.
Like Germany, Switzerland survived the first spring wave of the virus relatively intact. A carefully calibrated national quarantine helped curb the virus. Unlike Berlin, Bern did not see its spring success as an incentive to continue on such a cautious path.
On the contrary, the low mortality during the first wave of coronavirus seems to have reinforced Switzerland’s belief that the country is a “special case”, a unique country that is not in trouble in the world. During the last century, Switzerland has lost a single war or a great natural disaster. Switzerland has not suffered a single act of terrorism in this century, and the wallets of the country’s population have hardly been affected by the global financial crisis. This alpine state is resistant to the global crisis. Or so the Swiss think, looking at their history.
This pandemic did not appear to have set a precedent. Unlike the Belgians or the French, the Swiss knew how to control the virus. At least, that was what I thought. The government’s instructions to the Swiss were clear: let’s focus on activating the economy.
Therefore, after the first wave of coronavirus, Switzerland lifted restrictions on coronavirus faster than other European countries and the United States. The bars and clubs reopened their doors. There were no instructions for wearing masks indoors. The Swiss Agency for Tourism Promotion has resumed the advertising campaign on French television. And on October 1. Bern lifted the ban on organizing events for more than a thousand people. In early autumn, the Swiss began to live like nothing.
However, even now that the country’s government recognizes that the healthcare system is in a critical state, it has yet to introduce even “soft quarantine” as most other European countries have. A study by the Blavatnik School of Management at the University of Oxford found that measures to combat the coronavirus in Switzerland remain much more lenient than those taken in the rest of Europe and the United States. And they are only slightly more restrictive than in Sweden.
One of the obstacles is federalism in an already small country. After the first wave, the federal government gave 26 Swiss cantons the right to decide on the imposition of restrictions. But these tiny cantons – the smallest of them are only half the size of Manhattan – were hesitant to take action. As a local politician, one can hardly explain to a restaurant owner why he should close his restaurant if his colleague, who is only a five-minute drive away, can continue working.
It also doesn’t help that cantons have to bear the financial costs of COVID-19 decisions.
However, the biggest problem is that the stricter restrictions are incompatible with the exceptional philosophy of the small Swiss government.
However, even now that the country’s government recognizes that the healthcare system is in a critical state, it has yet to introduce even “soft quarantine” as most other European countries have. A study by the Blavatnik School of Management at the University of Oxford found that measures to combat the coronavirus in Switzerland remain much more lenient than those taken in the rest of Europe and the United States. And they are only slightly more restrictive than in Sweden.
“Foreign policy”
Lacking natural resources and a lot of arable land due to its mountainous terrain, Switzerland has traditionally viewed trade as its main source of financial prosperity. The limited role of government in public life is also related to the fact that the country was formed from previously independent countries.
The main reason for the unification of these cantons was not brotherly love or the desire to create a European state. The goal was simply to protect against one of the empires on the continent and protect the sovereignty of the cantons as much as possible.
In Switzerland, where the central government is weak and heavily dependent on trade, business has long reigned. Since 1848, the federal government in Bern has been dominated by parties representing business. There is no minimum wage in the country and there is very little protection for workers. Fiscal federalism encourages fierce fiscal competition between cantons, and any government intervention in the economy tends to frustrate.
Today, personal economic initiative is important to the Swiss. In 2012, 76 percent. the Swiss voted against adding two more weeks to the number of compulsory leave for employees. The country leads Europe in terms of weekly working hours. Surveys show that the Swiss are more concerned about the impact of the pandemic on the economy than on the healthcare system. He still believes so, although necessary operations such as the removal of malignant tumors in cancer patients are already being postponed in Swiss hospitals due to the need for free beds for COVID-19 patients.
Such a propensity for market liberalism, fiscal conservatism, and a particularly strong work ethic likely explain Switzerland’s economic success and global appeal in the business sector. This explains why Swiss Finance Minister Ueli Maurer was able to say: “We cannot afford a second quarantine. We don’t have the money for that. “
Switzerland’s public debt-to-GDP ratio was just 41 percent last year. The government estimates that economic disruption and support programs will require it to issue bonds worth $ 22 billion during the first quarantine. Swiss hands (3% of the country’s GDP).
By comparison, even austerity Germany would have to issue 6.4 percent worth of debt securities this year to finance the fight against the pandemic. GDP.
Still, Maurer says the new quarantine would threaten to sacrifice the economy and public finances on the altar of health. And in the Swiss media or in politics, hardly anyone opposes this point of view. The finance minister’s job is to control spending, not fight a pandemic, the commentators write. And no high-ranking political or political party has publicly called on the government to introduce even a soft quarantine.
The decision to allow a business to keep running and save money can be bad not only for health policy but also for the economy. Fear of infection is already spreading and the Swiss are beginning to limit their social life, according to data from the movement. So restaurants and cafes work but they don’t have customers. The Swiss are beginning to realize that there has been and will not be a compromise between health and the economy. The rapid increase in the number of infections has not prevented a significant increase in the number of corporate bankruptcies.
During this crisis, it may be necessary to suspend normal life and part of the economy for a time, otherwise we will not be able to recover and become an even stronger and healthier country. In an open letter, 50 economics professors asked the Swiss government to finally introduce a soft quarantine. But the government still doubts. As Oscar Wilde said, “doing nothing is the hardest thing in the world.” And it is even more difficult for a country that likes to work.
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