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As soon as the Federal Council has approved new measures in Switzerland, the canton of Bern rushes in and bans important events. This is especially true for sport: today the football and ice hockey stadiums in Bern are restricted to a maximum of 1,000 spectators.
According to a report by the “Tagesanzeiger”, several cantons could soon do the same, including Zurich and Basel-Stadt. Gundekar Giebel, spokesperson for Bern’s director of health and wellness, Pierre-Alain Schnegg, explains Bern’s motivation.
SRF News: Bern was the first canton to voluntarily return to the regime that existed before October 1. Neither the federal government nor health experts have currently called for a ban on major events. What are the reasons for the measure?
Gundekar Giebel: In the canton of Bern, the number of Covid-19 infections tripled this week. The week before there was a doubling. We must act and avoid meetings. We need to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission.
But it is precisely the concepts of protection in sports stadiums that are highly praised and, according to statistics, they are also effective. At least the former crisis manager of the BAG, Daniel Koch, acts as an advisor to the Bern ice hockey club, the SCB, and also to the Young Boys.
It’s not about protection concepts. These can work in stadiums. The fact is that many people do not know that they are infected and move freely. We have to act here. The canton always issues permits on the condition that they must adapt quickly and quickly.
If we have tripled the numbers, the true figure is probably very high.
We have introduced a traffic light system. This can change color very quickly. It is now in red. We do not know how high the number of unreported cases is in the population. If we have tripled the numbers, the true figure is probably very high.
The Health Directorate does not deny that the concepts of protection in stadiums are working. But it is about reducing the risk of infection before and after a match.
Keystone
But people wear a mask in stadiums.
Before, after and on the way to events, you need to take all of that into account. We have to slow down society a bit now. If we want to re-control the chains of infection, we need fewer social contacts.
Isn’t it personal responsibility before and after a visit to the stadium?
I believe that now we must find the balance between health – we are responsible for ensuring that the population can live in the best health – the economy and social life. We can only do that if personal responsibility works. We know: distance, hygiene and many tests are the key to controlling the virus.
SCB and YB officials were shocked by the decision and dismayed. According to YB CEO Wanja Greuel, there were no proven infections.
We don’t know that. About 50 percent of infections are traced to family and friends. In a third of cases, people cannot remember where they were infected. These contagion points must be somewhere. And in the big events we have to start reducing ourselves. Because otherwise we will not succeed. The virus will not wait for us and neither will protection concepts. It will continue to spread the greater the number of unreported cases.
The interview was conducted by Claudia Weber.
