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Unverified report holders:
University hospitals demand tougher measures
According to the “SonntagsZeitung”, five Swiss university hospitals sent a warning to Federal Councilor Alain Berset about the situation of coronavirus patients this week. In a letter they had expressed “great concern about the current situation”. Beds in intensive care units are in short supply, nursing staff have reached their limits, and university hospitals have postponed more than 4,000 operations since October. “There will be ethical issues,” Uwe E. Jocham, director of the Inselspital Bern, said of the newspaper.
Hospital directors fear there will be a third wave of coronavirus after Christmas and that the hospital system could collapse. In their letter to Berset, they demand stricter intervention from the Federal Council. At the University Hospital in Zurich, one of the largest hospitals in the country, there are only three beds available in the intensive care unit, he said. This has drastic consequences for patients with other life-threatening illnesses.
There is also an appeal from the doctors of “NZZ am Sonntag”. Three chief doctors from Zurich want to move the public. They warn of the collapse of hospitals. “The health system is already overloaded. For weeks, ”say Urs Karrer, chief physician at Winterthur Cantonal Hospital, Huldrych Günthard, professor of infectious diseases at Zurich University Hospital, and Gerhard Eich, chief infectious agent at Triemli. You sent an email to the newspaper.
The general population could be vaccinated in early summer.
The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has provided “SonntagsZeitung” and “Le Matin Dimanche” with information on the vaccination plan against the coronavirus in Switzerland. Consequently, just a few months after the start of vaccinations in January 2021, most people in Switzerland should already be vaccinated. “We assume that everyone who wants to get vaccinated, including the general population, can do so in early summer,” the BAG told newspapers. It is clear that risk groups, that is, the elderly and people with previous illnesses, will be vaccinated first. After that, the procedure would depend on the availability of the coronavirus vaccines, he said.
Swissmedic is holding back when it comes to vaccines
The head of approval of the Swiss Medicines Institute Swissmedic, Claus Bolte, still needs clarification before approving a coronavirus vaccine in Switzerland. Said this in an interview with the “SonntagsBlick”. The companies Pfizer / Biontech, Moderna and Janssen would be in a head-to-head race. “It is necessary to clarify the effectiveness, quality and safety of some points,” he emphasized. Reliable data was still lacking, especially for the age groups 65+ and 12-18, he said. “And we still know very little about how people with previous illnesses and high-risk patients react to vaccines,” Bolte said. He expects a data set next week that will shed light on possible side effects. “If we cannot clearly establish the risks for previously ill or elderly people, we would first have to refrain from approving these population groups,” Bolte emphasized. However, this would jeopardize the Swiss vaccination scheme, which provides vaccination to particularly vulnerable people. Then the federal government would have to reshape its strategy, he said. “A conflict of objectives that we naturally do not want”, as the Swissmedic expert explained to “SonntagsBlick”.
Gastronomy has to lay off most of its employees
According to a report by “SonntagsBlick”, the public sector is protecting Switzerland from a major drop in employment. The newspaper cites an analysis of employment statistics. The restaurant industry ranks first in the sad ranking. At the end of the third quarter of 2020, bars, cafes and restaurants in Switzerland still had 168,200 employees, around 23,000 fewer than the previous year. The hotel industry is also one of the big losers. There, 6,200 jobs disappeared in one year. On the other hand, the leader in staff expansion is health and social services, which now has 764,300 employees. This corresponds to an increase of 17,400 people compared to the previous year. In second and third place in terms of staff increases, it was followed by the Public Administration with an increase of 7,500 employees, as well as the area of education and teaching with an increase of 7,300 employees.
Many volunteers are involved in the corona pandemic
According to a report from the “SonntagsZeitung” in Switzerland, the coronavirus crisis has generated a wave of solidarity. For example, 1,080 volunteers had worked for free with mountain farmers through Caritas. That was 30 percent more than the year before, he said. In total, the assistants completed 1,600 weeks of work, corresponding to a 45 percent increase over the previous year. The document found that the main reasons for the surge in volunteers were that the coronavirus pandemic caused great concern. Also, sometimes it was no longer possible to travel abroad and many people wanted to do something useful at home, he said.
Priests plan to rebel against Christmas singing ban
According to the “SonntagsZeitung”, the priests want to rehearse a revolt against the Federal Council’s ban on singing at Christmas. Resistance has been building among believers since early December, it was said. Petitions would be launched and letters of protest would be written. But so far the words have not been heard. At the bishops’ conference, however, they have yet to reconcile with a no-sing Christmas party, as a spokeswoman told the newspaper. “We hope that the Federal Council will review the books again before Christmas and that the ban on singing will be lifted at least for the masses during the holiday season,” he said. As an alternative, the Episcopal Conference sees the possibility of singing in front of the churches with the appropriate distance and masks. “For most believers, Christmas without singing is simply inconceivable,” the bishops’ conference said in support of the statement.
Sommaruga: “Feel the weight of responsibility until late at night”
In an interview with Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga in the newspapers “Le Matin Dimanche” and “SonntagsZeitung”, the SP policy said, when asked about the balance of his presidential year, that the moment was psychologically very stressful. “Sometimes I feel the weight of responsibility late into the night,” Sommaruga said. To contain the spread of the coronavirus, he sincerely believes that much has been done to support the economy. But you have to be honest, no one knows where this coronavirus crisis is going. “The most difficult thing is the duration of the uncertainty,” emphasized Sommaruga. The SP politician does not accept the criticism of the Federal Council for having acted too late. “If the Federal Council had acted earlier, that would never have been accepted. Because the differences between the cantons were too great. Today the situation is worrisome everywhere, that’s why we get involved again, ”he said.
Swiss news agency continues to suffer
Pressure on the Keystone-SDA news agency is mounting, according to a report by “NZZ am Sonntag.” Several major publishers would resign from the services of the Keystone-SDA text and image agency in the next year, he said. The commuter newspaper “20 Minuten” will renounce all offers from the Swiss news agency from 2021. CH-Media and NZZ-Mediengruppe would also buy fewer services in the text area; continuous. Keystone-SDA declined to comment on the lost orders to “NZZ am Sonntag.” A spokesperson for Keystone-SDA only told the newspaper that the company continues to “claim to be an industrial solution as a multimedia news agency and contribute to diversity and quality in the Swiss media sector.”
Wave of donations for Operation Libero
According to the “SonntagsZeitung”, Operation Libero received a great response to the call it made on Wednesday for donations. In the first 24 hours, 130,000 francs were collected. The political organization had never received so many donations in one day. By Saturday, donations had risen to more than 200,000 francs, the newspaper wrote, citing information from the organization. “It is anything but natural for people to express their support for us, especially in the days of Corona,” co-president Laura Zimmermann told the newspaper. This is a confirmation that there are many people who find the work of Operation Libero important, he said. The organization wants to raise half a million through crowdfunding by the end of February to ensure its continued existence.
Coop threatens legal proceedings
According to the “SonntagsZeitung”, the detailwandel.ch association is initiating legal proceedings against the wholesaler Coop. Raffael Wüthrich, co-president of the association, told the newspaper that the cooperative broke the law in the elections for the regional council of the cooperative. “We will take legal action against Coop in the coming days and appeal to the civil court in Basel,” he said. The retailer changed the conditions for the regional council elections in an evening and foggy campaign in September and thus set significantly higher hurdles, it was said to justify. Now the signature of 6 instead of 2 percent of the cooperative members is required. These also need to be collected in 15 rather than 30 days.
