Coronavirus
Exclusive: Federal Councilor Berset wants to abolish the special situation by the end of March – the cantons are responsible
The Federal Council will end most of the corona measures on Wednesday. According to information from CH Media, Health Minister Alain Berset is also requesting that the special situation be lifted by the end of March.
Wants to abolish the special situation: Federal Councilor Alain Berset.
The number of new infections is falling, the situation in the hospitals has eased, and a majority of the cantons voted in the consultation for the immediate lifting of almost all measures. In short: there are many indications that the Federal Council will largely announce a return to normality on Wednesday. That means: The obligation to obtain a certificate for restaurants, museums, fitness centers etc. is dropped, and those who have not been vaccinated are allowed to take part in social life once more.
It is conceivable that the Federal Council will extend the mask requirement in public transport, in hospitals, retirement homes and possibly in shops. The Covid regulation on the special situation remains in force in a slimmed-down form.
If the Federal Council were to abolish all measures at once, it might also repeal the Covid ordinance on the special situation. Research shows, however, that the Federal Council is still waiting a bit. According to information from CH Media, Health Minister Alain Berset is asking his council colleagues to return to normal at the end of March. This would mean that the last Federal Council measures to contain the pandemic would fall. The cantons are once more responsible for adopting measures, for example at universities, vocational schools or health facilities. However, it would be technically possible, for example, to continue to regulate the obligation to wear masks on trains, buses and trams nationally, for example with transitional provisions in the Epidemic Ordinance.
According to the Epidemics Act, a special situation exists if there is an increased risk of infection and public health is at risk. The Federal Council declared the special situation at the end of February 2020. At the time, he banned events with more than 1,000 people. Two weeks later, the government declared an extraordinary situation. He was thus able to take measures on his own initiative. In June he picked them up once more. Even in the special situation, the Federal Council has far-reaching power; however, he must hear the cantons before decisions are made. Their concerns were not always heard.
Wrangling over competences as a permanent topic
The scramble for competencies was an ongoing issue during the pandemic. Especially in autumn 2020, when the second wave was building up, the federal government and the cantons shifted responsibility back and forth.
The departure from the special situation means that the Federal Council no longer assesses the corona virus as a special risk to public health. This assessment has a lot to do with the occupancy rate of the hospitals, which is falling.
For Berset, the special situation is not a decision of the Federal Council
Parliament has also dealt with the special situation several times in the past year. In the summer and winter sessions, the SVP demanded that it be lifted. There are effective protection concepts so that the risk of transmission with the SARS-CoV-2 virus is minimized. Under the federal dome, however, the SVP was alone and failed with its request. In December, when there were signs of exploding case numbers due to the omicron variant, Health Minister Alain Berset argued in the National Council that the special situation was not a decision by the Federal Council at all, but a finding that resulted from the epidemiological situation. He recalled that the cantons had asked the federal government for stricter measures.
The Zurich SVP National Councilor Alfred Heer, on the other hand, said that the Federal Council must end the special situation now in order to find the way back to normality. He criticized that the media had supported the federal government in fomenting panic with dramatic reports from intensive care units. Heer said in the parliamentary debate in December: “It’s always tragic in intensive care units. As is well known, there are no healthy people in the intensive care units, but terminally ill people, regardless of whether they suffer from Covid or other diseases. »
