In the Jura, the cantonal hospital would not run without the cross-border workers. They represent a third of the workforce. Indispensable staff, who are suffering the full brunt of the partial closure of the borders decided on Monday by the Federal Council and the French government. In the canton, as elsewhere in Switzerland, kilometers of traffic jams are formed. But the situation should improve.
While Bern had only authorized the opening of two posts across the entire canton, a third is now in service. Its particularity: it is exclusively reserved for border hospital staff. The information was revealed on Wednesday by local radio station RFJ, and confirmed by the Federal Customs Administration. Located in the village of Boncourt, this post is open between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. and can be crossed on presentation of a certificate of employment from the employer. This saves cross-border workers a waste of time in traffic jams. “This device worked very well on Wednesday morning,” Olivier Guerdat, head of communications at the Jura Hospital, told RFJ, adding that other border workers can in no way enter Jura territory through this means.
The system is not identical to that implemented in the Canton of Geneva. Priority buttons make it easier for nursing staff to cross the border. On the Jura side, it was believed that they were too easily falsifiable.
Earlier in the week, the Jura Hospital had already been talked about by calling on its border staff to temporarily reside in Switzerland. The institution hopes that French staff will be as close as possible to their workplace during the Covid-19 crisis. He even announced that he would assume all of the costs incurred.
Created: 18.03.2020, 21h27
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