Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer spoke to the press yesterday to remind everyone that only by following the current rules can we avoid going into lockdown. Anyone caught refusing to wear a mask will be fined on the spot. How much the fine will be was not clear.
The number of cases yesterday was over 6000 showing a tendency for the curve to be flattening versus falling.
He also offered more help packages for the professional sport‘s industry, covering the loss of 2/3 of ticket sales for example. From the 350 million franc loan already agreed on, 115 million will not need to be paid back. However there are conditions to this generous act, such as players not earning more than CHF 148 000 per year and no dividends being paid out to shareholders for 5 years. Not every club is happy with these measures and are countering that too many questions remain open, such as would transfers of players be allowed in spring and how long will they have to play without spectators.
Whilst the professional sport industry discusses these points, one industry that is getting no help is the sex industry. Currently completely shutdown the first victims are the prostitutes who are, generally, coming from abroad and who now have no income and are getting no help. They are usually the main breadwinners for whole families left behind and even if they can afford to fly back home, have no possibility of earning an income there either. In order to „help“ them, the canton of Lucerne has decided to allow street prostitution to resume again in the Ibach neighbourhood, but only if the transaction takes place outdoors and the prostitute wears a mask….. no words.
This year‘s „neighbourhood project“ winners are the various scout groups of Lucerne who during the lockdown helped over 500 people by doing their shopping, walking their dogs or simply reaching out to them.We were commissioned to make the films for all the nominees which you can find here.
