Was it common during the pandemic to refer to COVID as a “Grippe”? (it seems to me that this word wasn’t often used often in official communications)
Was it common during the pandemic to refer to COVID as a “Grippe”? (it seems to me that this word wasn’t often used often in official communications)
7 comments
This picture was taken in first quarter of 2021. I’m genuinely wondering if “Grippe” is an euphemism or if it’s simply a different terminology to which I wasn’t used to.
It’s not my goal goal with the question to ask if COVID is technically speaking a flew or not.
No, it was not common. But as I understand the Bundesrat and BAG people, Corona is now officially treated like conventional flu. So the expression kind of makes sense.
According to my research, however, the conventional flu is not related to the coronavirus, even though both are RNA viruses.
>This picture was taken in first quarter of 2021.
Okay, that’s a bit weird. It was either a statement or just an unfortunate choice of words.
No, not at all.
But campaigns to stop the spread of Influenza (Grippe) were definitely always a thing before and during CoViD.
Before Covid the largest fear was a new strain of the flu. Federation, cantons, and communes draw up pandemic plan and how to react in such a case. All followed more or less those plans as they fit best for the crisis at hand.
Here from the [pandemic plan from canton Glarus](https://www.gl.ch/public/upload/assets/1709/Pandemieplan_GL.pdf?fp=1) from 2009 (the one I easily found):
>Arbeiten mit direktem Kundenkontakt (Schalter, Verkauf, Aussendienst, etc.)
>
>• Diese Arbeiten sind einzuschränken oder zu umgehen (mögliche Alternativen: Gegensprechanlagen, Einrichtung spezieller Telefonnummern, Internet, Taxigäste nur noch auf Rücksitz, **Nichtgebrauch der vorderen Bustüre** etc.).
>
>• Falls andere technische Lösungen ausscheiden, sind zum Schutz vor Tröpfchenübertragung einfache Barrieren (z.B. aus Plexiglas oder Kunststofffolie auf Gesichts- oder Oberkörperhöhe) zu errichten.
My assumption is, that Winterthur had those labels on file in case of a flu pandemic, and simply used those. It is also interesting to note, that all those measures we have seen, would have been the same if it was indeed “just the flu”.
They just recycled old flu stickers. For Covid the protective measures are the same
Yes, probably a recycled sticker. In those days, only anti-vaxxers and deniers would call COVID a “grippe” in any non-casual setting.
It wasn’t common and it was avoided. Telling the truth would have led many people to ignore the measures like wearing masks or getting vaccinated.