Switzerland Today

Greetings from Bern,

Widely expected but feared by some, the big news out of the Swiss capital today is that the government is extending the use of the Covid certificate in public spaces. Starting next Monday, anyone 16 or over will need to show the pass to enter restaurants, museums, concert halls and theatres. President Guy Parmelin called today’s decision a way to “return to greater normality”.

Keystone / Ennio Leanza

In the News: In announcing the latest measure to fight the fourth wave of the pandemic, the government said the Covid pass was a means to avoid pressure on the healthcare system and another lockdown for businesses.

• “It’s clear that people who have a Covid certificate hold a big advantage over people who are not vaccinated,” Parmelin said during a press conference this afternoon. The certificate shows a person has been vaccinated, has recovered from the disease or has a negative test result. Getting that test, however, will put the non-vaccinated out of pocket starting October 1. 
• With a humanitarian emergency underway in Afghanistan following the Taliban take-over of the poverty-stricken country and the departure of American-led forces, the Swiss government has pledged an additional CHF33 ($36 million) to bolster aid. This brings the total earmarked for Afghanistan over the next 16 months to CHF60 million, with displaced persons both in the country and in neighbouring states a top priority for the Swiss.
• Credit Suisse has acted as a patron of the arts in Switzerland by supporting shows at museums. But it seems the bank won’t allow Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei to hold an account there for his free speech and arts foundation. Ai told Reuters the bank had said it was terminating all bank accounts connected to people with criminal records. Ai, who was detained by the Chinese government in 2011, said he has never been formally charged or convicted of a crime.

Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle

In anticipation of today’s announcement about the Covid certificate, the pass has come under great scrutiny.

As a tool to encourage the non-vaccinated to get the shot, does it workExternal link, Le Temps wonders. Research on this question is limited, but preliminary data out of the United Kingdom this spring show the Covid pass could becounter-productive – those staunchly opposed to the vaccine said the pass would not change their minds, and in some cases, it would even reinforce their opposition to the jab, the newspaper reports.

If regular folk have to show a Covid certificate to enter a cinema, surely parliamentarians in Bern should also have to show one when the autumn session begins next week, says a Tages-Anzeiger op-ed. But no: many politicians are against the idea, something the author cannot fathom, quipping that, with hundreds of people crammed inside the chambers for three weeks, “it stands to reason that epidemiologically, this is as delicate as 90 minutes of fitness training”, an activity that will be subject to the Covid pass starting Monday.

Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

In these times of digital media, it’s rare for a paper magazine to celebrate 100 years of publication.

But that’s exactly what the French-language news photo magazine L’Illustré is doing today, with the release of a special editionExternal link titled “100 for 100” featuring photographs of 100 notable public figures from Western Switzerland. The photo essay also includes ordinary people, born between 1921 and 2021, among them faithful readers of the magazine.

Commenting on the origins of the magazine, editor-in-chief Stéphane Benoit-Godet toldExternal link Swiss public radio RTS that it marked “the start of magazine publishing with large photos that gave [readers] a taste of the world.”

“It was filling a gap,” he added. “Back then people did not look beyond their canton.”

The publication has bucked the trend of magazines going the way of the dodo due to falling readership and advertising revenue as both the media and consumers shift to digital. The Covid pandemic has brought further challenges to the sector. L’Illustré’s 100th anniversary edition comes out on the same day a committee announcedExternal link it had collected enough signatures to force a nationwide vote on public funding for private media, a support package that was approved by parliament just three months ago.