SwitzerlandACTUALITY
In Italy the white tourism sector is undergoing a great economic crisis as the winter season has never started. In Switzerland, however, the plants are open and infections are decreasing ...
Tuesday 23 February 2021 6 minutes reading time
A season to forget for the mountains that this year, due to the pandemic, have not yet been able to open the ski lifts. From December to today there have been many possible opening dates, but all canceled with various postponements.
The last postponement on February 14, the evening before that there finally seemed to be a certain opening date for the regions in the yellow zone: Piedmont, Lombardy and Veneto had worked whole days to kick off the winter season and ensure maximum safety .
Yet another postponement that has sparked a lot of controversy, in particular towards Walter Ricciardi, Councilor of the Minister of Health Speranza, who, also on February 14, proposed a total and immediate lockdown, but above all attributed to skiing the cause of spread of the English variant . In an interview with the television program "Che tempo che fa", in fact, the Councilor criticized Switzerland for the opening of the ski areas: "The country that allowed the English variant to enter Europe is Switzerland. The chain of infections was rebuilt: the British went skiing to Switzerland, where they kept the ski lifts open and a teacher went back to school and infected all her students. From there it spread to the rest of Europe ".
These words did not lack Switzerland's reply. “The ski resorts have taken scrupulous safety measures to avoid the outbreak of possible outbreaks. In addition to this, there is no scientific evidence that the outbreaks of the English variant in Europe originated from the Swiss ski lifts, "the FOPH (Federal Office of Public Health) told the broadcaster RSI, the radio and television network of Italian Switzerland.
“This is speculation - Berno Stoffel, director of the Swiss Cableways told RSI - The protection measures adopted in the lifts that are still open are effective. And their safety is also proven by a comparative examination with other means of transport ”.
And Switzerland is right. The ski lifts have always remained open, we continue to ski and, despite this, the data show that the contagion curve is constantly decreasing. How did Switzerland manage to save the winter season? The answer was given to Agi by the director of the Aletsch Bahnen AG ski lifts, Valentin König: “The federal government, and therefore also the canton of Valais, has launched a broad mass screening campaign. And tourism employees are now being tested at regular intervals. We have invested heavily in anti-contagion measures. Each cabin of the cable car is disinfected 4-5 times a day during the hours of use. In all buildings of the ski lifts and on all means of transport, masks and spacing are mandatory. The areas in front of ticket offices and lifts and the waiting rooms were '' redesigned '' specifically this winter. Also on the cable cars and gondola lifts there is a limitation of 2/3 of the capacity ".
“The protective measures have proved to be adequate. After the Christmas and New Year holidays, no increase in Covid cases due to winter sports tourism has been reported. we are talking about outdoor sports that do not increase the transmission of the virus, as confirmed by federal and cantonal health experts ”concluded Valentin König.
So what doesn't work in Italy?
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