Swiss group lights 11,288 candles for COVID-19 victims

Bern, Dec. 8 (BNA) More than 11,000 candles – one for every Swiss victim of the coronavirus pandemic – lit up the darkness of December outside the Swiss parliament in Bern on Tuesday.

“We want to create a space to remember and mourn the victims,” ​​Simon Gehren of the Corona Mahnoush (Corona Vigil) movement told Reuters.

About 40 volunteers helped light the geometrically arranged candles in the square which is the political center of Switzerland. The group organized a similar event last year.

Green said the vigil was also a call for the government to take tougher measures to contain the rising infection numbers.

Switzerland has seen a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases over the past weeks. The measures were tightened last week, but they were less stringent than in neighboring countries, such as Germany or Austria.

Swiss health authorities said on Tuesday that 11,288 people have died from the laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 virus since the start of the pandemic.

HF