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The state government is meeting to be able to adopt new measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as quickly as possible.
Now the Federal Council is accelerating.
Photo: Peter Klaunzer (Keystone / Archive)
Now it is fast in the Bundeshaus: the Federal Council will meet on Sunday at 11 am for a crisis meeting in view of the increasing number of corona cases. We learned this from well-informed sources in Bern.
The goal is for new rules to be applied to contain the pandemic as of Monday. Specifically, a nationwide mask requirement for publicly accessible indoors is up for debate, as requested by the cantons on Friday afternoon. The Federal Council will also examine a ceiling for public and private meetings, as already applied in some cantons.
Finally, the Federal Council will discuss a recommendation from the central office. The Federal Council will report on the new measures Sunday at lunchtime.
Interested federal experts
Already this afternoon informed federal experts on the current situation: “The situation is dire,” said Virginie Masserey, head of the Infection Control Section at the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG). The number of new cases continues to rise very rapidly and the number of hospital admissions is also increasing with a delay of around ten days, Masserey said.
According to Masserey, new infections include all ages. All of Switzerland is affected, including the cantons that were little affected by the first spring wave. “Now is the time to stop the increase in cases to avoid overloading health facilities.”
For Martin Ackermann, president of the Federal Science Task Force, the figures are an “shock, but also an opportunity to react quickly.” Even if the new measures were to take effect in one week, the number of cases and the number of hospitalizations would quadruple in two weeks, he said. That means 12,000 cases would be counted in two weeks.
The number of corona cases has risen sharply in Switzerland for days. Today, the BAG reported for the first time over 3,000 new infections. The canton of Schwyz is particularly affected, where a hospital alarm sounded (read the impressive report here: Hospital full, half positive tests and an angry local resident Sepp Trütsch).
