This week, Karin Keller-Sutter, Switzerland’s minister of police and justice, warned a gathering of EU ministers that Switzerland could be forced to leave the Schengen zone if a referendum scheduled for 15 May 2022 is successful, reported RTS. The Schengen zone, which now includes 28 states and allows passport-free movement across much of western Europe, […]
FILM: AND TOMORROW YOU WILL BE DEAD – the ordeal of Swiss Taliban hostages
4 February 2022. By Neptune NOS OTAGES (UND MORGEN SEID IHR TOT) *** (vo Swiss German or French) This meticulous reconstruction of a controversial hostage event is a harrowing experience, as it was for the real Swiss husband and wife, Daniela Widmer and David Och, taken captive by the Taliban somewhere between Pakistan and Afghanistan […]
Covid: weekly cases and hospitalisations both down in Switzerland
This week, 208,542 new Covid-19 cases were reported in Switzerland, down 8% from the 226,080 cases reported a week earlier. Also, the reported number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised dropped 3% from 533 to 518 across the week. In addition, the reported number Covid-19 patients in intensive care (ICU) in Switzerland fell 8% from 210 to 194 over […]
99% of Swiss emergency sirens pass the test
Every year, Switzerland tests its apocalyptic-sounding sirens on the first Wednesday of February. This year it was done on 2 February 2022 at 13:30. The tests finished at 14:00 for general sirens, and 15:00 for flood sirens. If an alarm sounds outside of these times it is not a test. This year’s test revealed that […]
Covid: Swiss government lifts requirements to quarantine and work from home
On 2 February 2022, Switzerland’s Federal Council announced it was lifting the requirements to work from home and to quarantine after contact with an infected person from Thursday, 3 February 2022. In addition, the government is looking at the possibility of lifting a wide range of other measures. Further decisions are to be made on […]
Swiss government aims to cut welfare benefits paid to some foreigners
In response to rising welfare costs, Switzerland’s Federal Council has put forward a proposal to cut the amounts paid to non-EU immigrants in Switzerland, reported RTS. Between 2010 and 2019, the cost of welfare in Switzerland rose by CHF 0.9 billion to CHF 2.8 billion (+47%), straining the finances of some cantons and municipalities. The […]
Swiss government forecasts 12 billion francs spending on roads
Switzerland’s federal government expects to spend CHF 8 billion repairing federal roads and another CHF 4 billion extending them between 2024 and 2027, it announced this week. Maintenance, noise proofing and other upgrades to the existing road network are expected to consume CHF 8.4 billion between 2024 and 2027, an average annual cost of CHF […]
Covid: cases continue to rise this week in Switzerland but hospitals stable
This week, 226,080 new Covid-19 cases were reported in Switzerland, up 16% from the 194,679 cases reported a week earlier. However the number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised has remained fairly stable. This week, 533 people were reported hospitalised with Covid-19 in Switzerland, 14% above the 468 reported the week before. These figures tend to rise once data […]
Swiss exports soar to a new record in 2021
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic weighed heavily on Swiss foreign trade. But in 2021, exports bounced back, rising 15.2% to reach a record high of CHF 260 billion. The sharp jump in exports in 2021 caused Switzerland’s trade surplus to reach CHF 58.7 billion, despite rising imports, which were pushed up by rising energy prices […]
Switzerland experienced fewer stronger earthquakes in 2021
Switzerland is a nation lying across a number of significant fault lines making it highly exposed to the risk of earthquakes. The mountainous canton of Valais is the region at highest risk, followed by Basel, Graubünden, the St. Gallen Rhine Valley, and central Switzerland. The largest earthquake in Switzerland’s recorded history occurred in Basel in […]
