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Geneva (dpa) - The corona situation in Switzerland is dramatic.
Last time there were 351 infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days, in Germany less than 140.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 41 people have died per 100,000 inhabitants in Switzerland and 16 in Germany. These are top values in a European comparison - and yet politicians, authorities and society are relaxed.
Bars, restaurants and cinemas are open in many places, there is a lot of activity in markets, gambling in casinos, sweating in fitness centers and brothels are also open.
The federal government lifted the maximum number of 1,000 spectators at major events on October 1st.
Shopping malls all over the country have started the holiday season, in one case with a raffle in which hundreds rushed to get a few tickets.
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"Switzerland puts thrift above life", was the headline of the US magazine "Foreign Policy".
The author Joseph de Weck, a Swiss historian, is outraged by a sentence from Finance Minister Ueli Maurer who said that Switzerland could not afford a second lockdown.
"It shows that it is perfectly fine for Switzerland to lead a debate about an alleged weighing of interests between health and money," he told the broadcaster SRF.
Maurer stands by it.
In a video interview on the website of his party, the right-wing SVP, he said on November 10th that scientists only see health, but after all you have to make money.
Actually, the cantons should act.
Federalism is a sacred cow in Switzerland.
The cantons defend their sovereignty with tooth and claw.
They only held back at the beginning of the corona pandemic.
In the spring, the federal government briefly took over the reins and closed all shops, clubs and restaurants for four weeks.
But after the initial relaxation, the crisis team disbanded in June and left responsibility to the cantons again.
With fatal consequences.
In October the number of infections exploded, despite weeks of warnings from scientists.
Dozens of economists wrote an open letter at the beginning of November: "As difficult as it is and as painful as it will be, Switzerland needs a second lockdown, coupled with extensive fiscal support measures to avert further damage from the corona pandemic."
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In the canton of Geneva, the situation almost spiraled out of control, with well over 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
It was not that bad in any region in Europe.
At the beginning of November, the cantonal government reacted with a lockdown: All shops, service providers and restaurants were closed.
With the result that the people of Geneva are sometimes moving even more, for example to go to the hairdresser's in the neighboring canton of Vaud.
Other cantons also tightened the reins much too late.
This week restaurants, bars, cafés, fitness centers, ice rinks, indoor swimming pools and casinos will also close in the city of Basel.
The Federal Office of Public Health remains relaxed: "The development actually makes me cautiously optimistic, it looks like a trend reversal," said the boss Anne Lévy of the "Sunday view".
The seven-day incidence has fallen from more than 450 per 100,000 (from November 9 to 15) to around 350 new infections within a week.
Calculated over 14 days, Switzerland is one of the leaders in Western Europe, ahead of Italy, Great Britain and France.
Lévy makes of it: "We are not much worse off than other European countries."
David Nabarro, the Covid officer of the World Health Organization (WHO), which is based in Geneva, cannot believe it.
"I am surprised that it is not treated as a national emergency," he told the newspapers of the media company CH-Media.
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But the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” pays respect to the Swiss strategy: “No lockdown, no panic - the Federal Council is keeping its nerve in the stress of corona.
That deserves respect, ”she wrote in a comment.
"If the majority of the population is as calm as the Federal Council, then it will be good."
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201123-99-430335 / 3
open letter from economists
Author de Weck at the broadcaster SRF
Article in Foreign Policy magazine
Corona task force report
Final report of the crisis team
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Video shopping center Spreitenbach
Current corona numbers Switzerland
Maurer, SVP Talk, November 11, from around minute 31'10
Lévy in a Sunday look
Government of Basel-Stadt announces new measures
Nabarro at CH-Media-Newspapers