On 18 March 2022 at 4:00am all remaining UK travel restrictions were lifted. Passenger locator forms (PLFs) have been scrapped and unvaccinated arrivals no longer need to test. Vaccinated arrivals have not needed to test for some time. The lifting of these final travel restrictions marks nearly two years since travel into the UK was […]
Russia’s UN political appointees silent on Ukraine
By William Thatcher Dowell Tatiana Valovaya, a political appointee who heads the United Nations Office in Geneva, represents one of the world’s most important humanitarian, trade and conflict resolution hubs. And yet, while the UN’s specialized agencies from UNHCR to WHO have denounced the carnage in Ukraine, Valovaya is silent. Valovaya’s uncomfortable situation highlights the UN’s […]
Covid: research on Omicron vs Delta
Research posted this week on Lancet confirms what many doctors thought. The risk of severe outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection is substantially lower for Omicron than for Delta. The study, which followed 1.5 million laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 patients resident in England between 29 November 2021 and 9 January 2022, found much lower rates of hospitalisation and death […]
Swiss government open to offering free annual train passes to Ukrainian refugees
On Monday, the Federal Council responded favourably to the idea of offering GA travel passes to Ukrainian refugees, reported the newspaper Le Matin. The GA pass is an annual ticket that offers unlimited travel on trains, boats, buses and trams. A second class GA pass normally costs CHF 3,860 for an adult and CHF 1,645 […]
In Switzerland, 400,000 people struggle with everyday mathematics
On 14 March 2022, UNESCO celebrated the International Day of Mathematics, an event started in 2019 to highlight the importance of mathematics in everyday life. The date was chosen because Pi, one of the world’s most widely-known mathematical constants can be rounded to 3.14, which matches the US abbreviation for March 14. Widespread mathematical illiteracy […]
Swiss skies turn orange
On 15 March 2022, people across parts of Switzerland awoke to strange orange skies. This phenomenon is caused by sand from the Sahara desert. It is a well known meteorological phenomenon that occurs roughly three times a year in Switzerland, typically during spring and autumn. The image above is from a Meteo Swiss webcam at […]
Chart of the week: Switzerland’s most popular sporting activities
Unsurprisingly, hiking and skiing are among the top sporting activities in Switzerland. Cycling, swimming, jogging, fitness training, weight lifting, yoga, dance and gymnastics complete the top ten. Switzerland’s most popular sporting activities in 2020 included walking and hiking (56.9%), cycling excluding mountain biking (42.0%), swimming (38.6%), skiing (34.9%) and jogging (27.0%). The sports with the […]
Swiss government issues special visa for Ukrainian refugees
On 11 March 2022, Switzerland’s government decided to issue special S visas from midnight, reported RTS. These visas will allow the holder to stay in Switzerland for a year and can be extended for longer if their safety is at risk. The S visas, something that has never been issued before, will allow employment, allow […]
Swiss fighters heading to Ukraine risk prison
Around 35 volunteers, including 3 Swiss citizens, have contacted the Ukrainian embassy in Switzerland about joining the war effort in Ukraine, reported 20 Minutes. However, Swiss citizens engaging in a foreign war risk up to three years in prison. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken of a 16,000 strong battalion of foreign volunteers and encouraged […]
Covid cases up 42% in a week in Switzerland
This week, 171,085 new Covid-19 cases were reported in Switzerland, up 42% from the 120,901 cases reported a week earlier. In addition, the reported number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised leapt too. This week 482 were admitted, up 37% from 352 the week before. The 7-day average case number had been in constant decline since the end of January 2022. […]
