Sunday press on November 3, 2024: An overview

Corona: Vaccine Pope criticizes the treatment of unvaccinated people

The number of Covid infections is currently increasing. For vaccination pope Christoph Berger, however, the virus has “now become a normal pathogen”. Only people at risk, but not healthy people under 65, would have to be vaccinated, including health workers.

The pediatrician has given up his long-standing position as President of the Vaccination Commission and will leave the committee at the end of the year. In an interview with the “SonntagsZeitung” he looks back critically at the pandemic. Vaccination recommendations in particular, “which are primarily about protecting others and not yourself, are difficult,” he says. “I would act even more cautiously today.”

A lot of pressure was exerted back then, says Berger. “It was generally a difficult phase during the pandemic when people had to get vaccinated in order to go to restaurants, cinemas or football stadiums.” At the beginning the measures were correct because they prevented deaths. “Over time, however, the unequal treatment became increasingly difficult for those who had a low risk of becoming seriously ill themselves.”

In retrospect, the vaccination regime “could possibly have been ended more quickly” after people at risk had had sufficient opportunity to be vaccinated and “the effect of the vaccination on transmission was only small”.

Berger is also critical of the vaccination of young people: “The statement that you have to be vaccinated so that you can go to the camp must be questioned.” Berger also advocates that those affected by vaccination complications be taken seriously. “It is right that reports are looked at and recognized in the event of vaccine damage.” The chief physician at the Zurich Children’s Hospital is positively surprised that the willingness to vaccinate small children has practically not changed after the pandemic.

Harsher penalties for cocaine dealers than for rapists

In 2023, 75 rapists were convicted in Switzerland. 41 of them received unconditional prison sentences, which lasted an average of 4.5 years. In fact, most of them only have to serve three years because they are entitled to a conditional release after serving two-thirds of their sentence.

In the Swiss constitutional state, rapists are punished less harshly than cocaine dealers, who have to go to prison for five years for dealing three kilos, and even eight years behind bars for dealing 11 kilos. Is it in the spirit of a constitutional state if a serious crime against a woman, often with lifelong consequences, is sanctioned less harshly than the sale of a drug that is consumed voluntarily?

While it used to be said that a men’s justice system was to blame for the lenient sentences given to sex offenders, today women are in the majority in the public prosecutor’s office. Nevertheless, according to the “SonntagsZeitung”, nothing has changed, and #metoo does not seem to have had any influence despite the many awareness campaigns.

Criminal law professor and SP Councilor of States Daniel Jositsch says that lawyers do not judge rape differently, but rather based on the same criteria. In his experience, women are more understanding towards perpetrators and judge them more leniently. This means that the severe penalties for rapists will not change in the future.

The criminal file of the right-wing extremist Junge Tat

The judiciary strikes against the right-wing extremist group Junge Tat. After lengthy investigations, the Zurich public prosecutor’s office has issued criminal orders against six members of the Junge Tat. She is demanding fines totaling 70,000 francs.

“SonntagsBlick” has received the penal orders that are not yet legally binding. They provide insight into the inner workings of the group. It is about criminal acts that members of the Junge Tat are said to have committed between February 2022 and April 2024: racial discrimination, coercion, damage to property, eavesdropping and recording of strangers’ conversations, disruption of freedom of belief and worship, breach of the peace, offenses against the Explosives Act, obstruction of an official act and illegal masking.

The penal orders are directed against five men and one woman between the ages of 20 and 34 from the cantons of St. Gallen, Zurich, Bern, Basel-Stadt and Thurgau. The woman is a former climate and Juso activist.

The oldest accused (34) comes from Germany and recently ran unsuccessfully for the AfD as a local councilor. The highest fine is intended for a Thurgau resident with Serbian roots. He is ordered to pay a conditional fine of 18,000 francs, plus a fine and legal costs amounting to several thousand francs.

The public prosecutor’s office has not issued any criminal orders against the founders and leaders of the Junge Tat: Manuel C. and Tobias L. – both with a criminal record – were significantly involved in the actions, but the investigations against them are ongoing. The accused have now objected to the punishment orders, as the SonntagsBlick writes.

Customers scanned: Spar is rowing back

The grocer has stopped a project that enabled facial analysis of its store customers. This is reported by “NZZ am Sonntag” in its current issue.

Spar Switzerland had originally planned to equip 147 locations with sensors that would carry out a rough age and gender estimate of customers. The data collected can be used to display personalized advertising on the store screens. The system was already installed in several branches. ,

The sensors are now being gradually dismantled, says Spar. “The feedback from our customers prompted us to forego personalized advertising again,” writes the company, noting that the privacy of customers was always protected.

HSG professor Monika Simmler contradicts this. Even the evaluation of schematic characteristics such as gender or age is an infringement on fundamental rights, she tells the “NZZ am Sonntag”. Simmler also criticizes other technologies for facial analysis and facial recognition that are currently on the rise in Switzerland: “The totality of data collection by the state and private providers leads to a density of surveillance that can threaten our freedom.”

Health insurance companies could save a lot of money

Health insurance premiums will rise massively again next year. This is mainly due to healthcare costs. But insurers’ expenses for wages, IT and advertising are also sometimes high – too high.

“Individual health insurance companies could reduce their administrative costs by up to 30 percent,” says Silvia Fleischmann from the consulting firm SEEG (Swiss Executives and Experts) in the “NZZ am Sonntag”. She analyzed the insurers’ annual reports and came to the conclusion: “If all health insurance companies were to follow the industry average, huge amounts of money could be saved.”

An assessment shared by health insurance expert Felix Schneuwly. He analyzes the administrative costs of the basic insurance funds at the comparison service Comparis and creates an annual ranking list. “The 30 percent savings are realistic for the quarter of the health insurance companies with the highest costs,” he says.

Meanwhile, political efforts are moving in this direction. The aim is to limit the high fees paid by cash managers. But SP National Councilor Barbara Gysi wants to go even further: “All wages in health insurance companies should be capped,” she says in the “NZZ am Sonntag”.

Now the battle for the best bargains begins

Migros boss Mario Irminger announced price reductions on 1,000 products, and the competition wants to keep up. The intention behind it, so close to the end of the year, is clear: the upcoming period with Black Friday and the Christmas business is always the highest sales period of the year.

But this year it seems to be of above-average importance for retailers, as the “SonntagsZeitung” reports. Because so far the year hasn’t gone particularly well for many people. According to the research firm GFK, sales in the Swiss retail sector were down 0.2 percent in the first three quarters.

This has an impact on the next few weeks with the discount days. “Some retailers will try to stimulate demand with promotions and special offers to get rid of their excess inventory,” says Nordal Cavadini, retail expert at the consulting firm Alixpartners.

This is necessary because consumers tend to delay their purchases. On Black Friday, or Black Week, Cavadini expects overall lower sales than last year. The company Blackfridaydeals.ch is also expecting a decline: it estimates a loss of 20 million francs to 470 million francs.

Postal boss in an interview: “No one is waiting for a letter at home”

Roberto Cirillo defends the announced closure of 170 of his own post offices and continues to see the yellow giant as a relevant service provider. However, the everyday needs of customers are shifting away from letter mail and deposits at the counter to online trading. “Parcels have taken on a different status,” says Cirillo in an interview with the “SonntagsZeitung”.

«Today, people consciously order goods and wait for them to be delivered. No one is waiting for a letter at home.” For the first time, the head of the post office explains the criteria that the post office uses to close locations: “Our criteria relate to geographical areas and not to individual branches in the communities.” In this way, the company ensures that the legally required accessibility of postal services decreases as little as possible. Cirillo puts the savings effect from the planned measures in a range of 30 to 40 million francs per year.