Canton Bern – Mr Schnegg, is there really any infection in the stadiums? – News

Bern rushes and bans events for more than 1000 people. Governing Councilor Schnegg defends the approach.

As of today, large events for 1000 people or more are once again banned in the canton of Bern. This is because the number of cases is skyrocketing and the epidemiological situation is unpredictable. This decision is particularly difficult for sports clubs, which have put a lot of effort into developing protection concepts. These have not been proven to be ineffective. Government Councilor Pierre Alain Schnegg continues to support the decision.

Pierre Alain Schnegg

Councilor of the Canton of Bern

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The SVP politician has been in the cantonal government of Bern since July 2016. He heads the Health, Social and Integration Directorate.

Schnegg was born in 1962, is married with four children.

SRF News: Are they really the stages where contagion occurs? The clubs do not seem to be aware of this and have invested heavily in their protection concepts.

Pierre Alain Schnegg: Yes, there are infections. Also, the risk of infection is very high in the crowd before and after games. Today, in 30 percent of cases, we do not know where they were infected. You have to take that into account. Many are infected in the family, but the virus must first be brought in from abroad.

Sports clubs say, however, that the lack of major events threatens their long-term existence. Are you the gravedigger of soccer and ice hockey?

If we do not intervene now, we will have to give up big events for much longer. Now we still have a chance to break the curve, exponential growth. That is exactly what we have to achieve in the coming weeks.

And do you think it will happen with the banning of major events?

A single measure will not be enough. That is why we have decided to take several steps, at the cantonal and federal level. And with this selection we now have the opportunity, if everyone participates, to achieve the goal. It won’t be easy, but we all have to fight.

But the theme of big events is not limited to one place. Therefore, it makes no sense for a canton to rush alone.

No, I don’t agree with you. The Covid Ordinance specifically states that the cantons themselves assess and control the epidemiological situation. From these observations, they can decide for themselves what to do next. That is exactly what we did in the canton of Bern and the other cantons are certainly doing exactly the same.

The interview was conducted by Urs Gilgen.