Thought of the Day - October 26 - Meanwhile in Switzerland

At the late September yodeling event in the rural Schwyz canton, attended by 600 die-hard fans, people in the audience were asked to maintain social distancing, but mask-wearing was not required. Now the pandemic has spread through the region, with almost 1,300 cases.

The hospital in the canton is now overloaded. "The explosion in the number of cases in Schwyz is one of the worst in all of Europe," chief doctor Reto Nueesch posted online. Stopping short of a ban on yodeling, authorities have ramped-up rules, including making mask-wearing compulsory at all public and private events with more than 50 people and in situations where distancing can’t be maintained.

Switzerland isn't the only country to practice yodeling, it can be found in Austria's Tyrol region and in variant forms across the mountains of central Europe, from Poland to Romania.

While Switzerland has reported double the number of cases per capita than Canada, they have a similar fatality rate (240/million) versus Canada's (263). While there is little chance that yodeling will trigger a "super-spreader event" here in Canada, probably the same can be said about hockey over in Switzerland.

Cheers

Cliff