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The appeal from Basel health director Lukas Engelberger was urgent. In his role as chairman of the cantonal conference of health directors, he sat down with federal councilors Simonetta Sommaruga and Alain Berset last Thursday and called on all cantons to introduce mandatory masking in indoor public spaces. Engelberger has likely thought about the situation in the neighboring canton of Baselland, where the government was never able to adopt this measure. Only Sunday’s Federal Council directive forced a change.
The mask requirement was not the first crown protection measure in which the two Basles proceeded differently. After the first wave, governments announced in the spring that they would better coordinate with a second wave. And not only that: the agreement should also be made with the other north-western Swiss cantons of Aargau and Solothurn. “We discussed it beforehand,” Andrea Bürki, spokesman for the Basel-based crisis team, told bz.
There should only be one uniform solution for large-scale events
Now it is not Baselland that is being criticized, but Aargau. The local health director, Jean-Pierre Gallati (SVP), informed the public yesterday, Monday at 3 pm, of the important tightening. In Aargau, for example, starting Tuesday at 6pm, bars and clubs cannot accept more than 50 guests and they have to wear the mask while seated. Also, for private events, contact details must also be recorded if there are fewer than 15 people present.
“The government in Basel was not informed beforehand,” says Bürki. The measures taken by the cantons may differ. The only thing that was firmly agreed was to establish a uniform solution for the four cantons for large events. Aargau did not comment on this Monday. Previous information is still awaited.
Aargau governing council apologizes via email
Faced by the bz with criticism, Gallati goes back. At 4:53 pm his press spokesperson sent an email to the other three Engelberger health directors, Thomas Weber (BL) and Susanne Schaffner (SO): “Previous information was lost. We apologize for that! We regret the oversight and will announce further measures in due course and will assess a possible joint approach with you as usual. “Only the general secretaries of the three partners were briefed shortly before the press conference, but not the governments, the spokesperson added. Michel Hassler.
Aargau surprises me. Such an inappropriate deal should no longer occur in the second wave, ”says Sarah Wyss. The chairman of the Basel Health Commission criticized the lack of coordination between the cantons after the first wave. Above all, the two Basel, Fricktal and Schwarzbubenland as an area of health and life should have the same rules. “The coronavirus does not care about the borders of the cantons,” Wyss said.
The next stress test for the Northwest Swiss association still stands: today, Tuesday, the Basel government meets on the issue of Covid-19. Aargau is still waiting for information.
