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The growing number of cases is overwhelming for the cantons. Contact tracing is on the way, as are cantonal doctors, and the quarantine rule is turning into a sham. As a result, potentially infectious people have to go to work and public health suffers, as a case from Bern shows. Out of consideration for those affected, reports are only made anonymously.
The case occurred in the field of private security services. An employee of a large corporation had a crown case in the family. A relative tested positive at Inselspital Bern on October 15. He himself had close contact with her shortly before. His wife had a fever. At Spital Thun BE and Spital Münsingen BE, the two have received advice to urgently and immediately self-quarantine.
It was not a problem for the woman. She works in the home office. But the man works in the security service. He has to go out on patrol, he comes into contact with other people. He is insecure and communicates with his superiors the same night the relative tests positive.
Employer trusts in the canton
The answer is unsatisfactory. “The answer was that I don’t have to be quarantined and I have to go to work,” says the security officer. There was no reason not to come to work, his immediate superior told him. “If I don’t come, there would be no salary.”
BLICK learned of the employee’s communication and knows that the affected person has even informed the Group’s HR department in the event of an emergency. There it was also said: “You have to start working.” At least there was an addition: “But if you have symptoms, you should stay home.”
The problem was, there was no official quarantine order for the security guard. Only the Cantonal Medical Office can order self-isolation. However, in view of the increasing number of cases, this was overwhelmed. Contact tracing failed and it took the agency four full days to issue the quarantine order. Meanwhile, the clerk went about his business as usual.
Delayed quarantine
The message does not arrive until the night of October 19. The security guard must isolate himself immediately. “Go home and quarantine!” It says at the top of the order. Fat. With an exclamation point at the end. VIEW accessed the layout.
The officially ordered quarantine even applies retrospectively. The person in question must go into quarantine from October 12-22, he says.
The only thing is that this does not serve the employee. Meanwhile, he was traveling because the employer trusted the authority, like so many companies in the country. A mistake.
The canton doctor is solely responsible for ordering official isolation or quarantine. Other medical professionals cannot issue a binding quarantine obligation. No family doctor, no hospital employee. This has created problems in recent weeks because the number of cases has increased enormously. “Some citizens received their quarantine orders late,” says Bern Canton doctor Linda Nartey (51) in the latest bulletin. However, the situation has largely normalized and isolation and quarantine orders should arrive on time.
