Hundreds of people turned out to get free food from charities in one of the world's leading financial centres, typically associated with wealth, on Saturday. As those gathered had to follow the social distancing rules, the procession stretched for more than 1.5km (a mile).
Those most eager to receive food assistance began lining up in a file starting as early as at 5:00 am, according to the Caravane de Solidarite association, the main organizer of the event. It's the sixth time the group has been doling out food since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, head of the organization, Silvana Mastromatteo, told AFP.
She noted that the number of those seeking assistance has grown with each time.
Ingrid Berala, a Geneva resident from Nicaragua told Reuters:
"At the end of the month, my pockets are empty. We have to pay the bills, the insurance, everything. This is great, because there is food for a week, a week of relief...I don't know for next week."While the Covid-19 situation in Switzerland has been slowly improving and the restrictions have been partially lifted, many businesses remain closed. The lockdown took an especially heavy toll on the undocumented migrants working part-time jobs.
"The restaurants have received assistance, but not me. I have nothing to eat." Miguel Martinez, an undocumented restaurant worker from Colombia told AFP, adding that "the virus has upended everything. There is no work. Nothing."
Switzerland, the nation of some 8.6 million, has reported over 30,000 coronavirus cases, including more than 1,800 deaths. Now, the virus seems to be retreating, with the Alpine country currently having less than 2,300 infected.
Globally, the disease has killed more than 270,000 people, while over 4 million have tested positive.
Reader Comments
The bond of belief in the self-chosen ones must be broken in catastrophic fashion. The earth can feed the masses, the world denies it. The earth is the property of every man willing to be true to self. The world is the property of storytellers that enjoy creating fictions that create chaos and capitulation.
The earth is a definite reality. The world is a fictional overlay.
The world has ended for many peoples thousands of times. Is the world of the Cheyenne still in existence? How about the populace of the Roman Empire? Do the people of the Ottoman empire still enjoy such power and pleasure? Is the world of Pharaoh Egypt still going strong? The world of the Branch Davidians is long gone, burnt up in fire. The world my great grandparents knew is long gone.
The term world is widely misunderstood. It is not the earth. It is not human in nature. It is an imaginary construct created and supported as if it did really exist. In reality, there is no world. In the mind of men, the world is what they believe collectively to be the truth. Current times dictate that the world is an infection rich site that demands we all submit to a future of horrible conditions while those that have extorted that future, laugh in the faces of the masses.
Until the populace takes into account that they can be, are be, and will continue to duped by master storytellers, the world is screwed.