The government is in crisis. The number of Covid-19 cases remains virtually unchanged compared to last week. Alain Berset, health secretary, has already leaked the new lockdown rules to the press but will be putting them to a vote in parliament today before officially announcing them in a press conference this afternoon. The SVP and FDP are against any further tougher measures, in particular for ski resorts, but at the same time are urging the government to help keep the WEF in Switzerland next year. The World Economic Forum has threatened to move its event from the Bürgenstock in the canton of Lucerne to Singapore where the cases are under better control. Geneva has proven that tougher measures do work (their R rate is at 0.63), but it remains to be seen whether Berset and the rest of the federal council will have the courage to stand up to internal pressure. It really seems as if it is a battle between the economy versus the health of the people, we will see today who has the last word.
In any case fast tests are not the easy solution they were touted to be. Only four pharmacies in Lucerne are carrying them out and very few GP offices. The reasoning is that it is time consuming, the efficiency is lower than normal testing and it is hardly lucrative.
Winter arrived on December 1st and we all got to enjoy a bit of winter wonderland. Well, there is a whole lot more on its way. Starting tonight and until Sunday it is going to snow, snow, snow. Especially in the Tessin region where they are expecting up to 1.5 meters of fresh snow. The snow will begin somewhere around 400 to 700 meters, below it will rain. The danger of avalanche will be high, so be prudent.
