Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
In the end it was one lie too many. After the scandal of the fake Covid certificate, another untruth has become the undoing of the Swiss national ice hockey coach.
Find out why Patrick Fischer was immediately relieved of his duties.
Warm greetings from Bern
One month before the home World Championships, the Swiss Ice Hockey Association has dismissed national coach Patrick Fischer. The confession about a fake Covid certificate was initially accepted, but another lie cost him his job.
One month before the start of the World Championship in Switzerland, the coach of the Swiss national ice hockey team has to leave with immediate effect. How it came to this point played out in the media.
On Monday evening, Patrick Fischer announced in a video that he had travelled to the World Cup in China in 2023 with a fake Covid vaccination certificate. Fischer wanted to pre-empt an SRF report on this offence and the subsequent fine of CHF38,190.
The reactions were numerous but the Ice Hockey Association emphasised that it wanted to stick with Fischer. But then an investigation by Blick revealed that Fischer was not entirely honest in his confessional video when he claimed that he had otherwise always adhered to the law. Because the national coach had already broken the law before. In March 2020 he was convicted of speeding and was therefore on probation.
Fischer was the most successful coach and guided the men’s ice hockey team to three World Championship silvers. He is also considered a charismatic figure, which is why SRF wanted to feature him. The story with the forged Covid certificate was not originally part of the article but Fischer voluntarily divulged it to the SRF reporter during a lunch break.
Will digitisation of Swiss health records succeed at the second attempt? Because the financing has not been clarified, doctors and pharmacists are calling to freeze the electronic health record project.
The government wants to move forward with the electronic health record and consultations on the topic are currently underway. But now resistance is stirring. Parliamentarians have received a letter calling for a halt to the project, SRF reports.
The opponents are important associations in the healthcare sector, the Association of Swiss Doctors, the Hospital Association and the Pharmacists’ Association. They want to pull the plug because the financing of the digital programme “Digisanté” is not secured – and without this basis, the electronic health record cannot be implemented in a meaningful way. In addition, the project is also criticised by digital experts.
Digisanté is also affected by the austerity measures of the government’s savings package 27. However, according to SRF, the Federal Office of Public Health says that it is important “that digitalisation in the healthcare system is promoted”. The electronic health record is to replace the electronic patient record, which has not been successfully established.
Suddenly, he was wearing a Rolex and taking an expensive vacation. A postal worker from Zurich stole tens of thousands of francs from letters until he was convicted.
How are postal services in the country where you live? Despite the dismantling of more and more post offices, we still enjoy good service here in Switzerland – unless you are unlucky and end up with the wrong postal employee.
The residents of a community on Lake Zurich had this bad luck. Several people ordered cash amounts of up to CHF15,000 from their bank but received empty envelopes in the mail, CH Media newspapers report.
At the same time, the lifestyle of the postal employee took a luxurious turn. He wore a Rolex worth over CHF13,000 when he worked at the counter and treated himself to holidays in Dubai with his girlfriend shortly after cash disappeared again. The police and Swiss Post’s internal investigation service were finally able to convict the man by preparing a cash envelope with silver nitrate, which leaves dark stains on the fingers. The man argued in court that the extra cash came from outside sources such as gambling. But the Federal Court confirmed the verdict of a conditional prison sentence of 12 months and a conditional 40-day fine of CHF100 per day.
Tourists should behave better in Switzerland. Switzerland Tourism is launching a campaign to reduce tensions between residents and visitors.
If you are spending your holidays in Switzerland this summer, you may get an introduction to the local rules of etiquette on the plane. The reason for this is survey results from Switzerland Tourism. In mountain regions, up to 30% of locals think that there are too many tourists.
Switzerland Tourism is responding to this with a campaign to draw travellers‘ attention to local customs. “We are dealing with other cultures, they are happy to have this information,” says Martin Nydegger, Director of Switzerland Tourism, in a report on the Tagesschau. The posters can be seen at tourist hot spots and a video is available on Swiss flights.
In the campaign, for example, visitors are urged not to occupy seats on the train with luggage and to wear headphones, to dispose of their waste correctly and not stray from hiking paths.
From my point of view, some locals could also benefit from the etiquette lessons promoted by the campaign.
Translated using AI/ac
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