[En continu] “We can only win, sooner or later”: around 600 opponents of sanitary measures demonstrate in Geneva

■ The essential

Opponents of health measures are gathering this Saturday in Geneva. Among the crowd, the Freiheitstrychler (“freedom ringers”), who embody the movement in German-speaking Switzerland.

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The Freiheitstrychlers come to ring their bells in Geneva. Who are they?

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■ In Geneva, around 600 opponents of health measures express their anger

A crowd gathers in front of the Grand Théâtre in Geneva, a cultural place subject like others to the obligation to present a covid certificate. About 600 people express their opposition to the sanitary measures. “I don’t want to live like that”, one can read on a banner.

A woman carries a sign denouncing “deadly remedies” and “organized crime”. The Freiheitstrychler (“freedom ringers”), who embody the movement in German-speaking Switzerland, also take part in the event, bells close at hand.

“We can only win, sooner or later,” Jean-Dominique Michel, anti-vaccine leader, told the crowd before the procession got under way. Among the participants, the deputy of the French of Switzerland, Joachim Son-Forget, opposed to the health pass and ally of Eric Zemmour.

Read also: Joachim Son-Forget, from Macronist “champion” to fervent support of Eric Zemmour

■ Angela Merkel calls for a “national effort” to break the new wave

The German Chancellor said Saturday necessary “a national effort” to break the fourth epidemic wave which is sweeping over Germany, calling in particular the last refractory to be vaccinated.

“I am very concerned about the situation. We are facing difficult weeks. We need a national effort to break the heavy fall and winter wave of the pandemic, ”she said in her weekly podcast. “If we stand together, if we think about our own protection and taking care of others, we can save our country a lot this winter,” she added.

She said she was very concerned about the sharp increase in new Covid-19 infections, the high number of patients in intensive care and the again high number of daily deaths, especially in regions where the vaccination rate is relatively low. , especially in the east of the country.

■ Swiss epidemiologists skeptical of the “2G” rule

This week the “2G” rule – or the fact of limiting access to certain places to only people cured of Covid-19 or vaccinated – was invited into the debate in Switzerland. Epidemiologists are however skeptical of this measure.

The level of security is higher with the “2G” certificate because the risk of infection is lower, notes Marcel Tanner in an interview broadcast on Saturday in the Switzerland at the weekend. However, he adds that the “3G” certificate (an expression borrowed from German (“geimpft” for vaccinated, “genesen” for cured and “getestet” for tested, editor’s note.) Is better for society as a whole because it is more “liveable” regulations.

The scientist further notes that the second G, which refers to cured people, also presents uncertainties: those who have been only slightly infected or who have presented few or no symptoms are not solidly protected unlike those who have developed a more severe form of the disease.

Milo Puhan, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention at the University of Zurich, also has reservations. He points out that, while in theory the “2G” certificate may have an advantage, it is not easy to assess the magnitude of its effect because there is no solid scientific data yet. These are necessary to know if this regulation is applicable and if it makes it possible to prevent more infections than the “3G” certificate, he specifies.

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