Today, Swiss voters voted on whether to ban face covering, whether to accept a government plan for issuing electronic IDs and whether to accept a trade deal with Indonesia that some argue does too little to protect tropical forests. Both the votes on banning face covering and accepting the trade deal with Indonesia were accepted by 51.2% and 51.7% of voters respectively. […]
Covid: Swiss government to offer free tests for all
When the SARS-CoV-2 virus arrived in Switzerland it was difficult to qualify for a test and patients had to pay for them themselves, with health insurance covering a portion of the cost for some people. Then over the summer, the federal government offered to cover the cost of the tests, but only for those meeting […]
Swiss to vote on electronic IDs
On 7 March 2021, Swiss will vote on whether to accept laws to allow the issuance of electronic IDs. Switzerland’s government has come up with a plan to improve online identification via an e-ID. The aim is to create a secure reliable form of electronic ID that can be used online. To this end it […]
Swiss to vote on face covering ban
On 7 March 2021, Swiss voters will vote on whether to ban face coverings in public. Discussions on the ban are typically focused on the burka. However, the burka is a specific blue face and body covering found mainly in Afghanistan, which is not seen in Switzerland. The term burqa is sometimes conflated with niqab […]
Swiss to vote on trade deal with Indonesia
On 7 March 2021, Swiss voters will vote on whether to accept a new trade deal with Indonesia. The deal agreed by the Swiss and Indonesian governments aims to improve trade with South East Asia’s largest economy by cutting tariffs in both directions. However, the deal has opponents who have successfully called a referendum against […]
Covid: cases up slightly again in Switzerland this week as vaccinations slowly proceed
Over the seven days to 5 March 2021, Switzerland reported 7,358 new positive Covid-19 cases, 2.8% more than the week before, when cases rose by 1.5%. However, the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force remains concerned. Case numbers can quickly rise, as they did in early October 2020. On 12 October 2020, there were around 1,200 […]
Swiss parliament demands cabinet reopen restaurants and theatres
A recent parliamentary vote on whether to issue a formal request to the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive, to reopen restaurants on 22 March 2021, found a majority of 97 to 90, according to Le Matin. The main parties supporting the demand were the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) and the PLR (FDP). The Socialist and Green […]
Vote against Swiss Covid-19 law set for June 2021
Switzerland has several kinds of referendums. One, called and optional referendum, gives voters a chance to overturn laws created by the government. Calling an optional referendum requires 50,000 signatures, a hurdle comfortably cleared by the organisers of a referendum to overturn Switzerland’s Covid-19 law introduced on 26 September 2020. On 3 March 2021, Switzerland’s Federal […]
Covid vaccination in Switzerland – good if you are over 79
Some are getting frustrated by the slow pace of vaccination in Switzerland. Israel has now administered 96 doses per 100 and nearly 90% of those over 50 are fully vaccinated. By 28 February 2021, only 9 doses per 100 had been administered in Switzerland and only 3% population had been fully vaccinated. Rates far behind […]
Covid: steep rise in antibodies in Switzerland
Corona Immunitas, a nation-wide testing programme has been tracking the percentage of Switzerland’s population with antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus over time. Since the second wave of the pandemic, the percentage of the population with antibodies has more than doubled in many of the cantons covered by the study. A sharp rise in antibody rates […]
