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Very busy round at the SRF “Club” since Tuesday night. image: srf
SCB-Lüthi takes over the “Club” with the governing council of Bern, but the latter responded in a sovereign manner
At SRF’s “Club” last night, a prominent group discussed the second wave. The managing director of the SCB fell out with the councilor of the Bern government, Pierre Alain Schnegg. But even the epidemiologist Althaus spared no criticism.
Who are you arguing with?
The SRF Club was well stocked Tuesday night with decision makers from politics, science and sports. Here are the participants:
- Anne Lévy, Director of the Federal Office of Public Health FOPH
- Yvonne Hummel, Cantonist AG
- Pierre Alain Schnegg, BE / SVP Government Counselor and BE Health Director
- Antoine Chaix, general practitioner and SP / SZ cantonal councilor
- Marc Lüthi, CEO of SC Bern
- Christian Althaus, epidemiologist at the University of Bern
Moderator Barbara Lüthi outlined the program theme with the following questions: Are the measures announced by the Federal Council sufficient? And what other scenarios are being discussed? Where have mistakes been made so far?
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The dispute over great events
The most contentious point of the current broadcast of the “Club” was the Bern ban on major events. SCB Managing Director Marc Lüthi wanted to know from Bern Health Director Schnegg why the ban came about. He first referred to the current situation: “If it has doubled in a week, then almost tripled, then it clearly shows that we have to do without some things. Specifically: There have been more cases in the last four days than in the first three months of the pandemic. We have to act quickly, and if we don’t and miss the little window, there will be a lockdown for weeks, “warns Schnegg, adding:” We have to act now, otherwise we will be overwhelmed by the pandemic. “
Bern Health Director Pierre Alain Schnegg (SVP). image: srf
Marc Lüthi showed understanding for this, but immediately attacked and criticized the communication. They were informed about it five minutes before the press conference. “That’s indecent and frivolous, sorry.” Above all, Lüthi criticizes the fact that sports clubs were not included in the discussion.
Schnegg replied that he had always communicated with the traffic light and that the color could change as well. Health Minister Alain Berset clearly stated that the epidemiological situation had to be monitored and then appropriate decisions taken.
Lüthi objected that the Bernese were not at the forefront of new infections. Schnegg in return: “I don’t want to get to the top.”
SCB-Lüthi is not entirely satisfied with Bern’s decision. image: srf
Anne Lévy, head of BAG, supported Schnegg: «The Federal Council has always said that from October there will be events Yes the epidemiological situation allows it. And it is the decision of the cantons. “
SCB-Lüthi stuck to their criticism and criticized the lack of communication. How long has the traffic light been red? And what is the goal of this exercise? “-” How long we cannot say “, answers Schnegg. Lüthi again:” Yes, but how long? “-” Until this exponential growth is broken, until it is back at an acceptable level. “
What is the correct way?
The moderator asks cantonal doctor Yvonne Hummel from Aargau why she shouldn’t ban big events in Aargau despite having similar figures to Bern. Humbel: “We are in an area where nobody knows what is right. Today we cannot say that this is the right way to go. Also, there is a lot of discretion and many influencing factors. In the end, you can allow it or not. It is very understandable to me that different conclusions are reached. “
Canton doctor Yvonne Hummel. image: srf
Schnegg also defends the federalist path: “The numbers play out differently everywhere. The number of people hospitalized has doubled in seven days. If there is still a duplication: no problem. The system will continue to function. If it doubles again in the following week: then it heats up slowly. And if it doubles again, we will have great difficulties. “
All of this can be traced intellectually, adds SCB-Lüthi. But what he criticizes: “All communication”. And the economy was not included. For SC Bern this means: every match with only 1,000 spectators needs financial support. “We want to earn our own money. If we can’t, someone has to help us. And if not, you have to explain to us the social relevance of sport. If that is not there, we close our operations. Because listen uf. »
How could you be surprised?
“Of course, we knew that a second wave was coming and we also knew that it would be more violent, faster and more dangerous than the first wave. That didn’t surprise us, ”says BAG’s new boss, Anne Lévy. “But we thought it would come a little later and that it would be planned. But that’s the problem: we didn’t foresee it.
The director of BAG Anne Lévy. image: srf
Moderator Lüthi wants to hear from epidemiologist Althaus if he is disappointed with the way the pandemic is being addressed. “Yes, as a scientist, he is a bit disappointed that Europe cannot cope with this epidemic.” You have to see that there are countries that have the virus under control. You can also see what is being done outside of Switzerland. “We saw it in Israel for a long time, they were in the second confinement.” In Switzerland they were open in summer, they knew how it would come. “There really are no more excuses,” says Althaus.
The Chaix family doctor criticizes that there will be no double-blind randomized studies in a pandemic. In theory, the only way to prove it would be to compare a canton of Bern with and without massive events. Of course, no one would participate, but that is why testing is not possible in such a pandemic.
Christian Althaus criticizes the BAG: “There really are no more excuses.” image: srf
Althaus intervenes: “There is enough data. There is Bergamo, where you can see what happens when nothing is done. Or there is New Zealand, where you can see how to contain it. “It is not known which measures are the most effective. But:” You can see with the Swedes that with an upper limit of 50 people, they have the virus under control to some extent. “
In Sweden, communication was also a clear advantage. But how does it look in Switzerland? Moderator Lüthi wants to know. Althaus says that it is now very important to communicate regularly. During the summer, something was lost from the federal government, but also from the cantons. Intermediate questions moderator: Which cantons? Old house:
What about contact tracing?
SCB-Lüthi is back on the offensive: sports clubs have been working on protection concepts since the summer to show the “authorities” that it is possible. But what have the cantons and the federal government done in terms of locating contacts? You could have built something good in the summer, but it doesn’t work. “
Moderator Lüthi asks the group where the faults are. “We certainly didn’t have enough dimensions. We had a plan in Bern with 80 tracers and an external company. And now we can see that 200 or 400 cases are not enough, ”says Health Director Schnegg. If it held to 400 cases, 200 contact trackers would be enough. If it continues to duplicate, it won’t. “You won’t find 200 people in the job market.”
Schnegg continues: “This is not a problem for the BAG, it is a problem that we have throughout Switzerland, and we have to support it and try to improve it.”
Moderator Lüthi asks BAG head Lévy: What about the central database regarding contact tracing? “It is our turn, five cantons provide data automatically.” When asked about Althaus’s smile, he said, “Yes, it’s natural … it’s long.” You have to accept that everything is a bit more complicated in Switzerland. It was already clear in the exit strategy that contact tracing should be used. “You should have thought a little bigger, a little more federal.”
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