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 […]
Covid: Swiss health system unlikely to be overloaded by Omicron, according to model
Given the greater infectiousness of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, many experts have been concerned that it could push the healthcare system to its breaking point. However, the seemingly less hazardous nature of the variant has led researchers in Switzerland and Germany to conclude that hospital overload is unlikely. In the UK, the […]
Switzerland remains in top 10 for lowest corruption
Switzerland was ranked tenth in the latest 2021 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) published by Transparency International this week. The index ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, with results ranging from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). This year’s index reveals that corruption levels are at […]
Price of wood pellets rises sharply in Switzerland
The price of wood pellets in Switzerland is up 20% over the last 12 months, according to Patrick Schmutz, a wood pellet expert, reports RTS. According to Schmutz, the price rise is due to a cold 12 months, especially last spring, and the success of wood pellet heating. More and more pellet-based heating systems are […]
Overwhelming majority of ICU patients in Switzerland unvaccinated, show data
On 25 January 2022, a study published by Zurich University Hospital found that 97% of Covid-19 ICU patients since the start of Switzerland’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign were unvaccinated. The study evaluated hospital data from 964 Covid-19 patients who were treated in intensive care units in Swiss hospitals in the nine months since the start of […]
Swiss researchers discover how to predict those at risk of Long Covid
Many who get sick with Covid-19 end up with long term symptoms, known loosely as Long Covid. On 25 January 2022, researchers in Switzerland published research results that help to predict which Covid-19 patients are likely to develop Long Covid. The researchers uncovered a signature immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is associated with […]
