Coronavirus: Switzerland follows the Swedish route

Analysis

End with cough and hotter? Switzerland follows the Swedish route

Crown numbers in Switzerland are increasing rapidly. Instead of a clear line, cacophony and ups and downs in measurements dominate. A second block can still be avoided, but time is running out.

Switzerland at Corona Autumn 2020 – This is a motorhome exhibition in Bern with 7,000 visitors a day, which will only stop after the canton decides on a kind of micro-lock. It’s about a 50-year anniversary party at the Shoppi Tivoli in Spreitenbach (AG), which spirals out of control when a tabletop mega-bomb is detonated with discounted tickets.

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We know these examples, they have been quite swept away by cocoa in the last day. But otherwise, many people seem to continue to live in easy summer mode. This was demonstrated by an inspection on Saturday night on Zurich’s Langstrasse. Celebrate and hollow out some more before the hammer drops.

Switzerland is tired of Corona. This attitude does not necessarily help skeptics, rather it leads to a certain fatalism (“It is what it is”). Almost all the indicators point in the wrong direction. Switzerland is moving from being a role model to hitting rock bottom in Europe, not only in terms of the number of cases but also in terms of hospitalizations.

The number of patients doubled

The problem comes to a head in rural regions, where Covid-19 has never been taken particularly seriously. It is no coincidence that Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Schwyz decided to toughen crown measures on Sunday. But the situation in hospitals is also becoming increasingly tense in cantons such as Zurich.

The director of the Zollikerberg Hospital told SRF’s regional magazine on Sunday that nine Covid patients had already been admitted, more than during the first wave. It has “increased quite significantly” in recent days. Just since last Wednesday, the number of patients in the entire canton of Zurich has doubled from 80 to 160.

Across Switzerland, 259 people were hospitalized over the weekend. Cooperation between hospitals is working much better than in the spring, and staff have learned a lot from caring for Covid patients. They are no longer connected to the ventilator as quickly as at the beginning of the pandemic.

Still, doctors and nurses fear the days and weeks ahead. In any case, the latter are the weakest link in the Swiss healthcare chain. They do not have a powerful lobby like that of the medical profession or the pharmaceutical industry, who defend their benefits unconditionally. So care is often saved.

Zurich is not entirely wrong

The political cacophony doesn’t help either. The cantons are understandably more responsible than during the first wave. At that time, German-speaking Switzerland was much less affected than French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino, so it makes sense for the cantons to take differentiated measures. In practice, however, this leads to wild growth.

In little Switzerland, the population is quickly overwhelmed by this. The Zurich government was hit last Friday for not taking further action and preferring to wait for the Federal Council. But it’s not bad at all. If you want to take people with you, you need a certain degree of uniformity in the rules.

Slow statt lock

So we have to wait until the Federal Council announces its latest decisions on Wednesday. Health Minister Alain Berset announced in Lausanne on Monday that a radical cure was not expected. So it’s not a mini-blockade, but a slowdown, for example, with an expansion of the mask requirement and a stricter ban on gatherings.

For ice hockey and soccer clubs, the glory with thousands of spectators could end in just under a month. Matches in both championships are threatened to unravel after several crown cases. The passage of major events is increasingly proving to be a coup.

Tourism by tough measures

However, it is typical because economic considerations have taken precedence since the end of the first lockdown. “Another blockade of the Swiss economy must be avoided,” emphasized the employers’ association in a “Flash” sent on Monday. At the same time, he called on employees to comply with the protection concepts.

Commercial representatives are also slowly becoming “gschmuch”. And at least one industry would have nothing against a temporary shutdown: tourism. The canton of Valais, which is heavily reliant on foreign guests, has gone further so far and has, in fact, been partially closed. It is also about, among others, hospitals.

You worry about the winter business. “The number of cases should be reduced at the beginning of the season,” said Jürg Schmid, former director of Swiss Tourism and current president of Graubünden Ferien, the Tamedia newspaper. Tourism experts are probably thinking of the example of Israel, where the second blockade quickly pushed the curve down.

Sweden becomes a role model

They hardly get a reply on Wednesday. Switzerland is increasingly following the Swedish model. Except the Scandinavians had also implemented their (few) restrictions in the summer. This includes, for example, the banning of events with more than 50 participants. In September a planned increase to 500 people was canceled.

The fairly straightforward course in combination with a deep-rooted common sense in Scandinavia – which apparently works better than our own responsibility, which we swear to the point of weariness – has seen Sweden overcome the pandemic lightly despite its relatively ‘liberal model. “(only when protecting the A elderly people were denied in spring).

In the rest of Europe, however, a Hüst und Hott dominates, and Switzerland also plays an inglorious leadership role in this area. The approval of large events abroad has been followed with a little admiration and a lot of misunderstanding. Sometimes it relaxes and then tightens again. That doesn’t build confidence and contributes to Corona’s fatigue.

At least the Federal Council seems to have understood this problem. “What we are preparing now will have to stay for a long time,” Alain Berset said Monday. The only question is whether this understanding does not come too late. There is a risk that we will fall into a second block that nobody really wants.