Luisa Ita, Matthias Kempf and Ralph Donghi
Vaccinated, tested or recovered – without a certificate there has not even been a beer in the bar since the beginning of the week. But do hosts, brothel operators and indoor swimming pools really make the effort to check this for each and every one of them? Blick wants to know and is testing its way across the Central Plateau.
Packed with ID and a cell phone with a fully charged battery, it starts immediately in the morning: the first stop is Aarau. The morning coffee is long due, so the way leads to the first restaurant. Orders are placed right here at the counter. But the waitress doesn’t seem to be interested in the certificate: she serves the coffee without asking. A few minutes later, however, your colleague stands on the mat and duly requests all documents.
«No, I trust you»
In the second restaurant, the service is clearly lively: the young gentleman wants to see the certificate before ordering, but does not scan it. He doesn’t want to see any ID when asked. He says with a smile: “No, I trust you.”
This kind of control is actually not enough. In order to be able to check the validity of the certificate, it has to be scanned. In addition, a valid ID is required for identification. But even at lunch in an inn in the Aarau region, the waitress only wants to see the certificate – but does not check it.
First guest had to go home again
Probably the oldest landlady in Switzerland, Theres Lustenberger (92) from Restaurant Sonne in Benzenschwil AG, takes a closer look. In an interview with Blick, she said that she had to send the first guest out again on Monday morning: “He was vaccinated, but had no ID with him.”
The journey continues to an indoor swimming pool in Aargau. Would you let Blick journalists get into the cool water here without having seen a certificate? Not even close! The cashier waves it aside and passes the look test with flying colors.
Sex is possible without a QR code
The Freubad sauna sex club in Recherswil SO is also very careful. But what is strange is that there is sex here even without a certificate, you only need the check for the cup afterwards! «Our rooms are classified as hotels, so our guests do not need a certificate there. They are also allowed to move freely in the garden. We are also currently setting up an outer tent so that customers can stay there on colder days without a certificate, ”explains lifeguard and caretaker Thomy Baur (58). You only have to be vaccinated, tested or recovered to stay in the club and restaurant area.
The fact that the new regulation does not cause trouble on Monday in Aargau or in the canton of Solothurn is also shown by the demand from the responsible cantonal police: the emergency services did not have to intervene anywhere in this context until the afternoon.
Not everyone is enthusiastic
In Langenthal BE, too, everything seems to be going well. In a restaurant in the center, the staff professionally checks the information, but most of the guests are sitting outside on the terrace anyway. “We all have the certificate, but the weather is so beautiful,” says guest Georg Wyss (79), who supports the new measure. Priska Rähmi (52), who drinks a cool blond, sees it differently: “I don’t have a certificate yet. Now I’m just getting vaccinated, but I’m not really convinced. “
Gastrosuisse President Casimir Platzer (59) is also anything but convinced of the certificate requirement and has therefore made headlines over and over again in recent days. But now he has no choice: According to Blick research, the QR code will also be checked in his company in Kandersteg BE from Tuesday – Monday was still a day of rest.