From 6 June 2020, measures put in place to fight the spread of SARS-CoV-2 will be extensively eased, according to Switzerland’s government.
The number of new cases of infection has remained low for a number of weeks now, as has the number of hospital admissions and deaths, said a press statement.
From 30 May 2020, the limit on private gatherings in public will be increased from a maximum of 5 people to a maximum of 30.
From 6 June 2020, organised events will be allowed up to a maximum of 300 people. However, contact tracing must be assured. Hygiene and social distancing rules must still be observed. If it is not possible to respect social distancing rules, contact tracing must be assured, by means of attendance lists, for example. This includes family events, fairs, concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and political demonstrations. On 24 June 2020, the government might decide to extend this to gatherings of 1,000 people. However, events involving more than 1,000 people will be banned until at least 31 August 2020.
The same easing to groups of up to 300 will apply to sporting events, although events involving continuous, close physical contact, such as Swiss-style wrestling, judo, boxing and dancing in pairs are likely to remain banned until 6 July.
Other activities allowed from 6 June 2020, include holiday camps for children and young people of up to 300 participants. Mountain lifts will be allowed to open from the same date along with casinos, amusement parks, zoos, botanic gardens, swimming pools and spas.
From 6 June 2020, restrictions on restaurants, bars and nightclubs will be loosened. There will be no restriction on group size in restaurants and activities such as playing pool or live music performances will once again be allowed. However, some restrictions will remain. Customers must be seated, contact details must be collected from at least one member of groups of more than four, total customers must not exceed 300 and all establishments must close before midnight.
From 8 June 2020, upper secondary schools, vocational schools and higher educational institutions will be able to reopen according to details decided by cantons.
The government continues to underline the importance of maintaining distance from others, wearing masks when this is not possible, observing hygiene rules and working from home where possible – see rules here.
Alain Berset, Switzerland’s minister of home affairs, described the latest round of easing as a new normal, pointing out that the virus is still there. “We must live with it…the new normal is living with this situation which is not completely behind us”, he said.
More on this:
Government press release (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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