Three current stories related to the Corona Virus

Health insurance:
The diagnostic test for the Corona virus will have to be paid for by the compulsory health care insurance. Following a decision by the Federal Department of Home Affairs (EDI), the test has been added to the list of analyses subject to payment.

Due to the rapid spread of the new corona virus, and on the recommendation of the Federal Commission for Analysis, Means and Objects, the EDI has decided to include the diagnostic test of this disease on the list of analyses subject to payment. The compulsory health insurance will pay CHF 180 from March 4, 2020.

Bell AG postpones general assembly due to the Corona virus: but Roche keeps the date
The general meeting of food producer Bell should have taken place on Tuesday, March 17. The Basel-based company has now postponed the shareholders' meeting because of the spread of the Corona virus and the regulation of the Federal Council.

A spokesman for the company has confirmed this postponement to Cash Online. According to the company, Bell also considered solutions using remote electronic voting. Because of the size of the event, however, the decision has been made to postpone the general assembly.

At the other end of the city of Basel, at Roche, on the other hand, the date of the general assembly is being kept: this will also take place on March 17, but with just under 1,000 participating shareholders. Other Swiss companies such as ABB or Schindler are also planning to hold their shareholders' meetings in March as planned.

Masks and disinfectants are being stolen from Swiss hospitals - in large quantities
Disinfectants and respiratory masks are currently hard to find. As 20 minutes reported on Tuesday, however, more and more thefts are being registered in Swiss hospitals. “The use of protective masks has indeed been higher than expected in the past few days. But it’s not the hospital warehouse that is affected, but the publicly accessible areas in the hospital”, reported the Triemli City Hospital in Zurich.

Long-fingered visitors also appear to have been active at the Inselspital in Bern, as Philipp Jent, senior consultant for infectious diseases, reported to 20 minutes: "Every mask pack that we make available is stolen within five minutes."

The problem is also well known in Basel, where there has been a significant disappearance of masks and disinfectants. The masks are only available at the reception, but there have been people who have turned up several times requesting masks. The university hospital also reported to 20 minutes that they have observed people turning up with a container, filling it from the disinfectant dispenser and the leaving. We are keeping an eye on such events."

The fact that masks and disinfectants are in short supply in all pharmacies certainly does not help the problem of “hospital magpies”. It’s thereby all the more important that the people of Basel realise that masks only need to be worn by people who are infected.