Corona: That’s what the Sunday papers write

Sunday papers: parmelin dampens hopes, European vaccination industry plans

Parmelin quenches hope for relief from the crown

Federal President Guy Parmelin is discouraging hopes for a quick and significant easing of the crown’s measures. The development of the pandemic abroad and in Switzerland left little room for maneuver, Parmelin said in an interview with the “SonntagsZeitung”. The Federal Council has taken a step by facilitating private meetings. Switzerland still has to wait before visiting restaurants and other events. Understand the impatience and resentment of the population. And he sees that the state government can hardly give many people perspective because the virus is dominant. He hopes that the population will remain calm and patient. He makes an effort to keep the atmosphere in the discussion increasingly harsh and uncompromising. He strongly condemned excesses such as those of St. Gallen.

“I call on everyone to maintain the discipline that they have shown so far. We have to pull ourselves together again now. But we can also trust that the situation will stabilize as vaccinations progress and that a certain normalcy will return with the summer, ”said Parmelin.

Parmelin plans European vaccination industry

Federal President Guy Parmelin wants to work more closely with neighboring countries in supplying important goods. Last week he had talks with his counterparts Bruno Le Maire from France and Peter Altmaier from Germany, Parmelin said in an interview with the “SonntagsZeitung”. In this way, Switzerland could help build a broad-based vaccination industry in Europe. It is not clear whether Switzerland should participate as an investor or as a contractual partner. Switzerland has good prerequisites to play a key role. Also in other markets, such as medical products, Switzerland has a great dependence that cannot be broken with a purely national industrial policy.

EU may block vaccine deliveries to Switzerland

The EU changed its export rules for Covid-19 vaccines a week ago. If Switzerland was previously exempt from the obligation to obtain an export license, it has now been removed from the list of those countries. If a country buys vaccines but does not export them itself, the EU can block the vaccine. To protect the interests of Switzerland, Secretary of State Livia Leu introduced the EU Ambassador to Switzerland, Petros Mavromichalis. Switzerland is demanding that it be granted privileged access again and that the trade in vaccines and Covid 19 active ingredients not be restricted. The federal administration had been assured that the exclusion would not be directed against Switzerland. They are in contact with the EU Commission, he said.

Young people have tired of the measures

Young people’s resistance to corona measures is growing. While the Swiss youth supported the measures at first, now the wind has changed strongly. According to the newspaper “SonntagsZeitung”, more than half of the young generation have already grown tired of the restrictions and are dissatisfied. Many of them are no longer prepared to bear the brunt of the crisis. The riots in St. Gallen are just the tip of the iceberg. This is not surprising, since a corona virus infection does not usually have serious consequences for young people. However, it affects young adults a lot. Young people would be deprived of their experiences: when leaving, in the universities, during the exchange year, doing sports, starting a career, looking for a partner and traveling.

Gyms on the brink of ruin

Forced gym closures due to the corona pandemic are pushing sports studios in Switzerland to the brink of ruin. With a state liability lawsuit against the federal government, the studios are now applying legal pressure. With the model demand for a gym in Bern, the industry wants compensation for lost sales, as “SonntagsBlick” writes. Its operators demand 260,000 Swiss francs from the federal government. The lawsuit is intended to pave the way for future damage claims. The Federal Council goes wrong in the lawsuit. He had exercised his discretion in an unobjective and illegal way by not making any inquiries in the gyms. Despite contradicting the scientific findings, he rushed the situation, did not differentiate and misjudged the situation.

Fanta Vier arrives in Switzerland with the Corona app

The operators of the contact tracing app Luca want to expand into Switzerland after their success in Germany. Rapper Smudo from the music group “Die Fantastischen Vier”, who helped develop the app, told “SonntagsZeitung” that it was positive when as many people as possible participated. The virus knows no borders. With the Luca app, hosts, concert organizers, and merchants can have their visitors come and go with a QR code that is scanned with their mobile phone. The advantage is that the health authorities are connected to the system. Luca can help break the chains of infection and speed up the release from confinement.

Ready-to-use pharmacist pass

While the federal government is still working on developing a vaccination pass, the pharmacist pass is now ready for use. This is what the French-speaking Swiss Sunday newspaper “Le Matin Dimanche” reports. The platform of the cooperative of pharmacists (Ofac) has been complemented with a module on the subject of vaccination. “We want to offer a solution that lists Covid-19 vaccines, rapid tests and PCR tests,” said Mario Magada, CEO of Ofac. To ensure data security, the application uses Trust ID technology, which was developed by the Lausanne company ELCA. According to Magada, the pharmacists went to the Federal Office of Public Health with their solution. There it was said that a decision on the vaccination certificate had not yet been made. There are many proposed solutions. (sda)

Other themes:

The Federal Council wants to hold talks on the framework agreement

The Federal Council intends to intervene in the negotiations themselves in the fight for a framework agreement with the EU. Federal President Guy Parmelin confirmed this to the “SonntagsZeitung”. The Federal Council has yet to analyze the situation. If there is a meeting at the highest level with the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Parmelin and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ignazio Cassis, they should hold the talks, according to “SonntagsBlick”. In the negotiations between Secretary of State Livia Leu and EU representatives, no progress had been made on any of the disputed points: EU Citizenship Directive, wage protection, state aid. Cassis suggested updating the 1972 Free Trade Agreement as an alternative. However, the proposal was rejected.

Business learning before major renovations

Swiss business learning is facing major changes. In the future, students will no longer be taught in traditional subjects, but in practical skills, as Roland Hohl, director of the Swiss Conference of Training Sectors and Business Examinations, which is in charge of the reform, told the “NZZ am Sonntag ”. . The individual theme will disappear in favor of thematic blocks. KV’s new education plan is reminiscent of the new elementary school curriculum 21, which was highly controversial due to its competency orientation. It comprises around 200 performance targets that students must meet in vocational schools. In addition, there are 150 goals that are pursued in the company.

New Post president Levrat is causing criticism

In seeking a new managing chair for Swiss Post, two dozen people were considered to fill the vacancy. His profile has been examined more closely. The talks were only held with the former president of the SP party, Christian Levrat, reports the “SonntagsBlick”. This approach is drawing severe criticism in parliament. Such a procedure is unacceptable, said GLP chief Jürg Grossen. He relies on the Federal Council of his own free will to inspect and advertise such positions in the future. The appointment of Levrat as president by the SP’s federal adviser, Simonetta Sommaruga, was met with severe criticism from parliamentarians after the announcement.

Staff reduction in Migros

Migros cooperatives are implementing reorganization programs. According to an investigation by “NZZ am Sonntag”, there have also been significant job cuts. The ten regional cooperatives that make up the heart of Migros employed around 1,500 fewer people at the end of last year than the previous year. By 2020, Migros announced a total decrease of almost 7,000 jobs. The sale of subsidiaries such as Depot or Globus was the main responsible for the sharp decrease to 99,155 jobs.

250 million francs additional costs for data centers

The Department of Defense (DDPS) has to estimate around 250 million francs in additional costs for the implementation of three interconnected data centers for the armed forces and the entire federal administration. The project will cost more than 1.1 billion Swiss francs instead of the 900 million Swiss francs budgeted. That’s what “NZZ am Sonntag” writes. The additional costs are due to one of the planned locations for a data center not being usable. The annual report on the status of the most important projects of the DDPS at the end of 2020 was more negative than the previous year. Only a third of the 23 projects were carried out as planned. Major or minor problems were found with the others.

“March for the Labe” -President resigns

The president of the anti-abortion opponents “March for Labe”, Daniel Regli, has announced his resignation, according to information from “NZZ am Sonntag”. The former Zurich city councilor has given in to pressure from the organization’s board. The board of directors increasingly viewed Regli as unsustainable. Regli is fighting violently against the federal government’s crown measures and will publish a book titled “Crown and Late Death” in the coming days. To avoid a sponsorship split, he agreed to resign before the book was published, Regli said. With anti-gay statements, he had previously aroused discontent in the “March for Labe” association.