During the Corona pandemic, retirement homes in Switzerland, like in other countries, were closed for many weeks. Residents were not allowed to leave the house or receive visitors. They could no longer see their relatives and were completely isolated. For their own protection, as it was said at the time, because the virus was proven to hit older people particularly hard.
Individual freedom disregarded
The actual locking up of the very elderly in spring 2020 was already sharply criticized by various parties at the time. Now the Federal Council admits that the official instruction was excessive. It “caused suffering,” it writes in a report. It was not always possible to make the protective measures in retirement homes proportionate – with regard to individual freedom and self-determination.
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Protection remains the Federal Council’s top priority
In future pandemics, those affected and their relatives should be able to have a say. The perspectives of people with dementia in particular should be taken into account. At the same time, protecting those who are particularly at risk should remain the top priority. Finally, the Federal Council states: “It will remain a complex and ethically demanding challenge to protect the health of the population and at the same time take into account the different interests and living environments of the people affected with differentiated measures.”
