Lifting the assembly restriction to 1,000 people would complicate contact tracing in the event of coronavirus infection and promote a second wave.
Philippe Eggimann is the president of the Société Médicale de la Suisse Romande (archives).
KEYSTONE/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT
The Federal Council’s decision to re-authorize demonstrations of more than 1,000 people as of October 1 worries health circles, given the resurgence of coronavirus cases in Switzerland. They call for further restrictive measures.
“We are seeing a slow but inexorable increase in infections and outbreaks in Switzerland. The measures taken in recent weeks have made it possible to limit them, but not to block them “, notes Philippe Eggimann, president of the Medical Society of French-speaking Switzerland in an interview broadcast on Friday by”Freedom»And its partner newspapers. “It is not reasonable to open the way for more transmission opportunities,” he adds.
Danger
According to him, the lifting of the restriction on gathering to 1000 people “potentially endangers” the tracing of contacts in the event of a proven infection of a person who tests positive for the virus. “If we lose this ability, we rush into a real second wave.”
The bar of 200 additional cases of coronavirus in 24 hours was again crossed Thursday in Switzerland. The day before, the Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP) had announced 274 new patients.
Mr. Eggimann notes that resuming school lessons and returning workers from vacation will increase social interactions, with the risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2. “In this context, adding more meetings to more than 1,000 people is a significant risk. It would have been safer to observe how things go first and then advise ”, he explains.
“Insufficient measures”
The canton of Geneva, the most affected by the pandemic, is considering new restrictive measures. “Currently, people can organize events of up to 1,000 people. It’s too much. We are considering lowering this limit ”, indicates the Geneva cantonal doctor Aglaé Tardin, questioned by the“ Tribune de Genève ”. “I don’t know whether to speak of second wave or of wavelet […] but at the epidemiological level, we are observing that something is happening and we are concerned, ”she adds.
The ban on the opening of nightclubs, discos, dance halls and cabarets pronounced at the end of July by the Geneva authorities allowed a slight decrease in cases, but “the current measures are not sufficient”, she adds.
The cantonal doctor recommends targeting the main places of contamination, that is to say the family, bars, restaurants and private parties. “The Council of State will communicate on this subject next week”, she announces.
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