State of emergency in Wengen BE. The Lauberhorn races have been canceled. Instead, the almost 1000 residents now have to go to the mass test. It started on Wednesday at 12 noon. First results are expected on Thursday. The Bern Health Directorate wants to get an overview and find out how bad the situation really is.
The trigger for the corona fiasco: a tourist from Great Britain. He brought the new virus variant B117 with him to Wengen. An aggressive, more contagious version of the coronavirus. And the numbers skyrocketed. In one hotel alone, 28 cases were added between December 27 and January 10.
Not all became infected with the corona mutation. “Around ten people are known to date. We assume, however, that all or almost all of the people who tested positive were infected by the mutated virus ”, says Gundekar Giebel from the Bern health department to BLICK.
Outbreak in the Wengen ski club
That is why not only the residents of Wengen should be tested, but tourists too. Even if you don’t have any symptoms. The appeal of the Bern authority: “All people who have been in the ski area are urged to be tested. Tests are possible all over Switzerland. ” The Wengen ski club is currently the focus of the health department. Two ski instructors and four children tested positive for the virus there.
It is still unclear which virus variant it is. However, Giebel assumes that these are also infections with B117. Many members come from the Canton of Bern. But some also from Zurich, Biel or Freiburg.
“We stuck to the measures”
The mutated virus variant could already have spread – and that is exactly what the authorities want to prevent. “At the moment, many of our members are in quarantine,” says Andreas Regez (64), president of the ski club, to BLICK. He couldn’t say exactly how many. “I sent a list of our members to the authorities when I was informed about the corona outbreak in our club on Saturday.”
The local cannot say how the virus got into the club. There are many options. In the hotels or in the gondolas, for example. The club president emphasizes: “We have adhered to the measures.” Now it is completely tracked who could be infected. Regez sees it almost positively: “We will then be the best-tested village in Switzerland.”