“Doesn’t the current strategy lead to a «Durchseuchung» (mass infection), especially for children who still have few opportunities to get vaccinated?”
— @BoeglinP
“Durchseuchung sounds negative. We can’t stop the virus, what we do is to slow it down.”
— @ignaziocassis, 12.1.2022
“How did the Federal Council include LongCovid in its risk assessments?”
— @NathalieChris18
“We’ve included it every now and then. We know very little. With our immunity the goal isn’t containment. We need a situation where we can live with the virus.”
— @alain_berset, 12.1.2022
…or in other words:
“That’s simply Darwinism, if you may put it that way.”
— @alain_berset, 12.1.2022
Despite calls for a national LongCovid registry, @alain_berset sees no need for action.
19.1.2022
And why should he, accurate numbers on the extent of the problem would not fit well with the strategy of letting infections explode and protecting only ICUs.
Long-term effects of COVID19 concern:
• Around 20% of adults 3 months after their first COVID19 symptoms.
• Around 1 in 3 people with a severe case, and around 1 in 6 with a mild or asymptomatic case.
• Around 2–3% of infected children and young people. bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home/kr…
“Over 90% of the population has some immunity… the problems… what had to happen, has already happened. But it doesn’t have much to do with the discussion of measures, since after this winter, all will have been in some form of contact with the virus.”
— @alain_berset, 28.1.2022
With the explosion of infections due to Omicron, reports of patients affected by a “mental fog” are multiplying.
Nearly 10% of people who recover are affected by LongCovid. It affects mainly patients who have recovered from a mild form of the disease.
“We know #LongCovid can become a big problem. That was one of the main reasons for maintaining strict measures until everyone who wanted was vaccinated.” @alain_berset, #Samstagsrundschau, 29.1.2022
5% of the population was fully vaccinated on 19.3.2021.
“Individual protection through balanced diet, physical and mental fitness, but especially cautious behavior and vaccination is of even greater importance if collective measures are reduced.
We still know too little about long-term consequences of COVID.”
— Rudolf Hauri, 1.2.2022
In announcing relaxations, @alain_berset surprised his colleagues in the Federal Council. The federal administration explains its advance with the fact that the @spschweiz magistrate wanted to score points with the good news alone. blick.ch/politik/corona…
Protect the health of service members, which is above all else:
• 7 days of isolation, “we’ve made good experiences with that duration.”
• Quarantine exemption only for those who’ve recently been boostered.
— @vbs_ddps, 1.2.2022
“We still have an increase of infections to record levels, but the impact on hospitals is much weaker than what we feared. We have a manageable situation in the hospitals and a widespread immunity, which allows us to envisage the end of strict measures.”
— @alain_berset, 2.2.2022
16 out of 100 patients not recovering from COVID after more than a year, that’s a bit abstract.
Let’s see what share of the population this corresponds to since the beginning of the pandemic and since 15.03.2021, when @alain_berset warned of the problem.
The most common symptoms of #LongCovid/#PostCovid are fatigue, loss/change in smell/taste, shortness of breath, difficulty concentrating, loss of memory, headache, muscle pain, insomnia and mental exhaustion.
— @PuhanMilo and @mayssamnehme, PdP, 8.2.2022
“Up to 20% of COVID infections are expected to lead to #LongCovid, regardless of disease severity. The lack of a definition of LongCovid is likely to make it more difficult for those affected to access disability insurance.”
— @SwissScience_TF, 15.2.2022
“We should be tolerant when dealing with certain behaviors of incomprehension and tenseness. I remind you of the respect that we owe to others when they, for example, continue to wear a mask as a precaution and wish to protect themselves individually.”
— @ignaziocassis, 16.2.2022
“Did you account for school vacations? What do you expect afterwards?”
— @ruedistuder
“We have a wave in which 10% of the population gets infected each week. After 10 weeks, we are simply at 100%. We have to assume a fairly high presence of immunity.”
— @alain_berset, 16.2.2022
“Society does not consist only of the health aspect. There are elements of economy, there are elements of society, there are elements of functioning of infrastructure.
The responsibility of the decisions is political, it is not medical or scientific.”
— @ignaziocassis, 16.2.2022
“It helps particularly when everyone wears a mask in certain places.”
— @GionDuriVincenz
“Yes, sure, but there is also a moment when you just don’t want to and can’t explain any longer why there is a measure that applies to everyone.”
— @alain_berset, 16.2.2022
“It is recommended to ensure the best possible air exchange indoors. CO2 sensors can help improve ventilation.”
“As long as the number of cases is high, masks should be mandatory for enclosed spaces frequented by all people.”
— @SwissScience_TF, 15.2.2022
“It helped us extremely simply to discuss with all circles. Science is very diverse and this organization @SwissScience_TF was very, very valuable, until today. But then, the decisions are political decisions, on a cantonal or federal level.”
— @alain_berset, #SRFArena, 18.2.2022
“It was a tough crisis, we hope the acute phase is over, but the pandemic is not over yet. There are still a lot of cases, but then there is also a flu wave every year. We hope that nothing bad happens later in the year. But today’s situation is good.”
— @alain_berset, 18.2.2022
“Do you actually have a plan for autumn?”
— @SandroBrotz
“For the next months and autumn, we will simply return to normal. (…) We hope that it will work out.”
— @alain_berset, #SRFArena, 18.2.2022
The @vbs_ddps retains its test policy and the FFP2 mask requirement in its latest hygiene and safety measures for the armed forces. (18.2.2022)
Sees the end of the crisis: “Pandemics end when you let go. It has always been like that in history. Pandemics end when you realize the virus won’t disappear, but we are more or less in control of it. We can live with the virus.”
— @alain_berset, 28.2.2022 tagesanzeiger.ch/am-schluss-gla…
“ ‘Live your life’ means drawing strength from our own resources. On today’s #DayOfTheIll, let’s think about the people who try to live their lives as best they can — despite accidents, disease or war.”
— @ignaziocassis, 6.3.2022
“I expect the number of cases and hospitalizations to keep rising in the coming days and weeks, and I think the number of unreported cases is currently 5× higher than the reported numbers (i.e. 150 000 cases per day).”
— Rudolf Hauri in @NZZaS, 19.3.2022
“How can we prevent big waves?
• Ensuring good indoor air quality.
• Wearing masks collectively is very effective in times of high virus circulation.
• Isolation is very efficient in preventing transmission chains when there are few cases.”
— @TanjaStadler_CH, PdP 22.3.2022
“We have a favorable situation with a very high immunity in the population, acquired through vaccinations, but also through infections.”
— @alain_berset, 30.3.2022
“A key demand of science is to improve indoor air quality. Who will take responsibility?”
— @christagall
“Personal responsibility… we air our office more regularly and have a device that shows this number, it goes up or down when you open the door…”
— @alain_berset, 30.3.2022
“Masks (FFP2) remain mandatory indoors and in vehicles.”
— @Violapamherd’s @vbs_ddps, 4.4.2022
“The shift in responsibility from authorities to citizens seems more important. I’ll still wear a mask in public transport or shops. Now it’s voluntary — epidemiologically it makes no difference, but psychologically it does.”
— Lukas Engelberger, 2.4.2022
Employers are responsible for protecting the health of their employees:
• Home Office
• Adequate ventilation
• Individual workplaces
• Don’t mix teams
• Distance
• Masks
— @SECO_CH, 1.4.2022 seco.admin.ch/seco/de/home/P…
What are the practical consequences of this responsibility?
“I certainly don’t believe we’ve reached anything close to an endemic situation with this virus.”
“Don’t believe endemic equals it’s mild or not a problem. There are many endemic diseases that are killing and maiming people all over the world.”
— Dr. Mike Ryan (@WHO), 14.4.2022
“We need to be ready that a wave passes through again or we get a new variant.”
“Governments need to decide what can be done to reduce transmission in terms of physical distance, in terms of wearing masks, in terms of investing in ventilation.”
— Dr. Mike Ryan (@WHO), 14.4.2022
“Switzerland is pursuing a mass infection strategy, from which it will only deviate if the caseload gets out of control. The key indicators are the burden on hospitals and staff shortages in the economy.”
— Christoph Fux, 23.6.2022
“According to studies, the share of severe #LongCovid exceeds 1% of all cases. With millions infected, that means tens of thousands. They now need the special attention the health system.”
— Lukas Engelberger (@GDK_CDS), 26.6.2022
“The objective is to reduce the transmission of the virus and to regain control … not to lose control of the situation”
— @alain_berset, 17.12.2021
“The Federal Council decided this morning to make a strong recommendation to the cantons and hospitals to postpone non-urgent operations in order to relieve the staff during the acute phase of the pandemic in January and February.”
— @alain_berset, 17.12.2021
Federal Councillor @alain_berset on reopening, the #3rdWave, individual responsibility, and #LongCovid at the 12 March press conference:
All different scenarios for reopening modeled by the @SwissScience_TF and the ETHZ come to the same conclusion: We have to expect a 3rd wave.
This is not the best time for reopening, given the epidemiological situation.
But because we had an evolution of our strategy, it seems possible to us to consider openings despite this very unstable situation as long as we are extremely careful in our individual actions.
This is the first time that we reopen while the numbers go up. Normally we did the opposite.
Since the beginning of this year we're trying an evolution of that strategy, it is based on risks, which is why it's important that everybody participates.