Swiss Review 3/2021

Swiss Review / June 2021 / No.3 17 Science SUSANNE WENGER “And yet it moves!” This is what scientist Galileo Galilei is supposed to have said in the 17th century to the Vatican In- quisition that forced him to recant his assertion that the earthmoved around the sun – a claimthat contradicted pa- pal teaching. Now let us adapt and apply Galileo’s famous show of dissent to the government’s coronavirus scientific advisory task force. “And yet they are speaking!” onemight say. Admittedly, juxtaposing the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force with Galileo is a little contrived. Yet Swiss commentators were recently making this compari- son and wondering whether parliament actually wanted to go back to the dark ages. This followed attempts in the National Council to ban the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force frommak- ing public statements. Before consultations began on the Covid-19 Act this spring, the influential National Council Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee expressed the wish that the task force no longer be allowed to comment on the Federal Council’s coronavirus measures and that it simply carry out its advisory rolewithout making any pub- lic remarks. The committee later toned down this request following fierce criticism, and the National Council even- tually also rejected a watered-down motion by 116 to 78 votes. Nevertheless, the episode has gone down as an at- tempt to silence the scientists. Political disgruntlement The Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force comprises some 70 experts frommany of Switzerland’s renowned uni- versities and research bodies, covering a number of special- isms such as epidemiology, economics and ethics. The ex- perts, whowork voluntarily, regularly publish policy briefs that evaluate the ongoing situation in light of new studies or other data. These publications constitute consolidated scientific assessments. Members of the task force have not only been speaking at Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) press conferences, but have also been giving inter- views and making statements on social media. Their gov- ernmentmandate allows themto do so – creating a delicate situation in the process. Some scientists have used the sudden limelight to de- liberately vent their frustrations whenever politicians fail to implement their recommendations. Even before calling for the task force to be silenced, critics were accusing these experts of spreading alarm, exerting pressure on the au- thorities, and not speaking with one voice. The issue came to a head after the task force warned of a third wave – just when the centre-right and right-wing parties were trying to make the Federal Council lift Covid restrictions. In par- ticular, the SVP, FDP and The Centre accused the task force of lacking a single voice on Covid. “The task force’s contra- And yet they are speaking Elements in parliament wanted the government’s Covid-19 scientific task force to be banned from making public statements. In the end, this did not happen. Nevertheless, the episode has caused quite a stir. Relations between scientists and politicians remain delicate. Sober appraisal of the infection curve – micro- biologist and task force head Martin Ackermann was notable for his qui- et, objective manner even during the contro- versial “silencing” epi- sode. Photo: Keystone