Corona: All French-speaking cantons are on the European 10th flop

Coronavirus: all French-speaking cantons are in the European flop 10

There is a blockade almost everywhere in western Switzerland. Restaurants, bars and in many places also shops for goods are closed. A new assessment shows that all cantons of French-speaking Switzerland are among the ten most affected areas in Europe. One canton is even at the forefront. Science struggles to find explanations.

Benjamin Weinmann / ch media

History repeats itself. The cantons of western Switzerland – especially Geneva and Vaud – were already among the Swiss hotspots when the first Corona wave occurred. A crown trench divided the country. And even now the pandemic map is the redest in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.

But this is not the case. The cantons of western Switzerland are now even among the ten most affected regions in all of Europe. This is demonstrated by a map updated daily by “RTS” based on WHO data. They refer to the average number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the past two weeks. Geneva ranks first with nearly 2,800 cases, followed by Valais (2,752) and Friborg (2605).

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“To be honest, I don’t know.”

Wallonia ranks fourth in Belgium. Jura, Vaud and Neuchâtel follow in fifth, seventh and ninth place, with the regions of the Czech Republic in the middle. The first German-speaking canton is only in 31st place: Appenzell Innerrhoden with 1233 cases. Reminder: In the summer, Switzerland defined these regions as “risk zones” with more than 60 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva, has no conclusive explanation for the renewed Crown split in Switzerland and the mediocre record of French-speaking Switzerland in a European comparison. “Why Geneva has so many more cases than Basel, for example, is hard to say,” says Flahault. “In all honesty, I don’t know.” According to Flahault, a factor could be the numerous international organizations that have their headquarters in the city of the Rhone. “International travel activity should therefore be greater here.”

The densest city in Switzerland

On the other hand, the fact is that in many places abroad they reacted to the second wave with stronger measures, such as in France, where the blockade was declared a few weeks ago. However, this has resulted in – as is suspected among Genevans – that many French people travel near the border to restaurants, bars and brothels in western Switzerland. However, no corresponding effect on the number of cases can be identified. More importantly, Geneva has the highest population density of all Swiss cities. Nowhere else in this country live so many people per square meter.

Many Asian countries have also defined stricter rules, such as China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, Flahault says. “They rigorously sealed off the accumulations, the so-called clusters, and were successful with them.” Nonetheless, the poor performance of the French-speaking countries, in particular that of Geneva, is surprising. The canton had taken tough measures earlier than other cantons, closing nightclubs in July and introducing the 100-person limit for gatherings in August. Further tightening followed constantly, but obviously it was not enough.

Otherwise the school risks closing

So does French-speaking Switzerland also need these cluster closures? “Wait and see,” Flahault says. “The next few days will show if the partial block has the desired effect and if the curve is flattening.” Otherwise you have to think about other measures, such as closing schools again.

In the leading canton of Geneva, the hospitalization rate of Covid patients continues to rise. More recently, 27 patients were even in the intensive care unit of the university hospital. On Monday it announced it would put 250 additional beds into operation. According to a cantonal government release, private hospitals in Geneva are also expanding their range of beds to prepare for more Covid patients. (aargauerzeitung.ch)