Swiss Review 4/2020

Swiss Review / July 2020 / No.4 7 Always in the foreground (left): Alain Berset and Daniel Koch – the two prominent faces of Swit- zerland’s coronavirus peak. Always in the back- ground (right): Inten- sive-care teams such as this one at the La Carità hospital in Locarno – the canton of Ticino was particularly hard hit. Photos: Keystone MARC LETTAU Are things already back to normal? Many in Switzerland asked themselves this question at the beginning of June. Whereas places like Brazil were still very much in the throes of the pandemic, the Federal Council was swiftly lifting restrictions. Street cafes, river banks and lake shores were suddenly filled with life again. Shops reopened their doors. All accompanied by the unmistakeable whiff of dis- infectant. Yet ‘normal’ this definitely is not. Everyday life is still riddledwith the consequences of the pandemic. More than a third of all employees have been put on short-time work- ing hours. Thousands have lost their jobs. Meanwhile, the spectre of a possible secondwave hangs over us. The social and economic convulsions are likely to preoccupy us for years. It is too early to draw any final conclusions. What we can do is speculate as to how Switzerland rode the epidemiological curve. Although the impact was hard and the pain andmisfortune no less considerable, the general consensus is that the country dealt with the situ- ation in an astonishingly effective and disciplined man- ner. Our disquiet at the surge in infections, not tomention at the sudden fragility of everything we take for granted, was no less pronounced than elsewhere. However, we came out of it relatively unscathed. This is because the vast majority of us followed the government guidelines and stayed at home. And because we learned to help others in myriad ways. Ultimately, the fact that we responded in this way is a testimony to the Federal Council, who presented a united front at the beginning of the crisis, showed total faith in what the pandemic expertswere saying, and remained con- sistent and clear throughout. The government put the onus on individual responsibility, trusting us to stay at home and stay safe. Therewas no total lockdown or obligation towear masks. Numerous press conferences remain ingrained in our collective consciousness: HealthMinister Alain Berset implored us all to stay at home, and Switzerland’s pandemic guru Dr Daniel Koch coolly and calmly told the nation about what he knew and – even more importantly – about what he did not know. Switzerland also provides an example of how impor- tant it is to be very well equipped for a crisis in material terms. A strong safety net was put in place. Government aid for individuals, such as compensation for short-time working, has been far more extensive than in many other countries. Support for stricken businesses has also been muchmore emphatic compared to neighbouring European states, with the Swiss government fully guaranteeing the emergency loans to which SMEs had unbureaucratic ac- cess via their banks. International media watched inwide- eyed wonder. “German CEOs can only dream of such things,” wrote the Munich-based news magazine “Focus”. Yet it would be wrong to wax lyrical. Switzerland was no better prepared for the pandemic than other industrial economies. The country had a hospital pandemic plan in place at federal level, but the cantons had failed to imple- ment this plan for monetary reasons. Stocks of essential medical supplies were far from full – theywere half-empty. Our self-discipline also became frayed at the edges. InMay, patience began to wear thin. The Federal Council finally brought this restlessness to an end in June.