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More and more countries are on the federal risk list, and the fall break will soon end in both Basles. The number of travelers returning to quarantine is increasing accordingly in the two Basles. There are currently 575 people in return quarantine in the city and 485 in the countryside, that is, 198 (city) and 148 (rural) more than a week ago. According to the Basel Department of Health, “the number is increasing due to holidays.”
It can be very expensive for those who do not comply with the entry rules. A fine can cost up to CHF 10,000. If the health department has clear indications that someone is not complying with the quarantine conditions, a notification can be made to the prosecutor. In the canton of Zurich, a 44-year-old man recently had to pay a 2000 franc fine because he was not at home during a police control call.
The health department and the police conduct random checks
According to the prosecutor’s office, no one in Basel has yet paid a fine. A violation of quarantine requirements was reported, however the file is currently with the prosecutor. The Basel Department of Health is currently prosecuting three other crimes. Only a few quarantine violations have been discovered in the Basel area; Rolf Wirz, a spokesman for the Department of the Economy and Health, cannot give any figures. As this confirms, no case has yet reached the prosecution.
The federal government places countries that have more than 60 new infections per 100,000 people for 14 days on a quarantine list; there are currently 59 countries. Anyone returning from one of these countries must report to the canton and be quarantined for ten days. Returnees have a duty to register, but Basel-Stadt does not check in each individual case whether house arrest is actually being observed.
The canton receives the passenger lists of air travelers from the federal government. On this basis, the cantonal health department and police carry out on-the-spot checks. Travelers who have traveled by car cannot be screened. It works similarly in the country, as confirmed by Rolf Wirz upon request.
What does the quarantine actually do?
But not only those who return to travel should be quarantined: anyone who has been in contact with an infected person is also under house arrest. Until yesterday there were 183 people in the city canton and 186 in the countryside, according to Rolf Wirz, they have to report to the canton every day through the Covid application. If someone does not respond for two days, the person will be contacted. “If there is a justified suspicion, the police can carry out a check,” Wirz said.
However, very few of the people who are in quarantine will test positive for Corona. In the city, according to canton doctor Thomas Steffen, it is about 10 percent, in the rural canton there were six people in October. With such a small number, the question arises as to whether quarantine is even necessary for returning travelers and contact persons.
“This is a classic preventive paradox,” says Wirz: If you take the right measures and show an effect, you can conclude that they were not necessary. Also, it is not known how high the number of unreported cases of quarantined people who have not been examined is. “We continue to view quarantine as important and effective,” Wirz emphasized.
Nobody in both Basel by Corona in hospital
Quarantine: a measure that remains. Will more be added soon? In the city, corona positive cases increased from 1,350 (Monday) to 1,385 (yesterday) this week. In the country 1,210 cases were registered on Monday 1248 yesterday, however, no new regulations are foreseen in any of the cantons. In the city, the increase has already been tempered by the requirement for masks and the limitation of events, says Thomas Steffen. Therefore, dispense with an immediate reaction. “The situation will undoubtedly have to be carefully monitored over the next few weeks.”
Rolf Wirz explains why no new rules are being introduced in the country at the moment: “We have established parameters from which action is required. They have not yet been contacted. “Another factor is hospital occupancy: in both Basel, no one is currently in hospital care due to a corona infection. It goes on to state that there should be 40 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over a period of two weeks; this has been agreed by the cantons of Baselland, Basel-Stadt, Solothurn and Aargau.
The current rate in the Basel area is 28.5, the lowest rate in Switzerland. If the number of cases continues to increase as in recent days, the incidence of 40 new infections will soon be reached. If the value rises to 60, the two Basles could in turn become a risk zone.
