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About 20 percent of all people in Switzerland who are hospitalized due to Covid-19 are in Geneva university hospitals. This number makes you sit down and take note.
And he seduced the Geneva health director, Mauro Poggia, into publicly thinking about drastic measures in recent days. This went up to mandatory registration for small family gatherings. Anyone hosting a dinner with friends should have informed the authorities.
Resistance to harsh measures
But the political reaction came early: “invasion of privacy,” “state interference,” “counterproductive.” Politically there was resistance from left to right.
Now the cantonal government of Geneva has reached a compromise: It is expanding the requirement for masks, school camps are being canceled and public gatherings with more than 15 people are banned. But there is no direct intervention in small private meetings.
You don’t want to be considered a “pioneer canton,” said the responsible health director, Poggia. Reference was made to other cantons in western Switzerland that have already introduced strict measures: Vaud is obliged to wear a mask for private parties with 50 or more people. In Neuchâtel, private gatherings of 30 or more people even have to be registered with the authorities.
Limited to 15 people
It seemed as if they wanted to prevent Geneva from being the canton that took the most drastic measures. But in Geneva they have already reached the limit of 15 people. A limit that is lower than in all other cantons, even if Geneva is not (yet) obliged to report private events.
It is an attempt to appeal once again to the population with clear measures and at the same time to wait for political and social acceptance. Politically, with these measures, the church should (for the moment) remain in the town. It remains to be seen whether the population will support the measures. After all, she has an even greater obligation from today.
Anyone hosting a private event with more than 15 people should ensure that the mask and contact details of all their guests are required. If there is a positive case and the organizer has not taken all the measures, there is a risk of fines of up to 30,000 francs. There are measures in the knowledge of the growing number of patients in hospitals and in the knowledge of the concerns of those responsible for the hospital.
The Geneva government has once again set an example. Rightly so, because congestion in hospitals is one of the main reasons these restrictions have been necessary since the beginning of the pandemic.
Stephan weber
SRF journalist
