During the course of 2020, 8,415 more people died than in 2019, a rise of 12.4%, according to statistics published by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office. The rise in year-on-year deaths is broadly in line with various Covid-19 death estimates for Switzerland in 2020. The official toll is 7,606. However, others have calculated Swiss Covid-19 deaths […]
Swiss summer avalanche risk highest in decades
Summer doesn’t feel like the season for avalanches, however, Alpine snow can be dangerous at any time of the year. On Sunday 13 June 2021, an avalanche near the Mauvoisin dam in the municipality of Val de Bagnes which contains Verbier, buried someone. The avalanche occurred at 5pm at an altitude of around 3,400 metres, […]
Covid: vaccination open to 12-15 year olds in Switzerland
12 to 15 year olds will soon have access to Covid-19 vaccination in Switzerland, Christoph Berger, head of Switzerland’s federal vaccination commission, told the newspaper NZZ over the weekend. On 22 June 2021, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) gave the plan a green light. On 4 June 2021, Swissmedic, Switzerland’s drug approval authority, […]
Covid: Delta variant does not worry Swiss vaccination commission
Switzerland is well prepared to take on the Delta variant, said Christoph Berger, head of Switzerland’s federal vaccination commission. Based on what we currently know, there is no need to be concerned, he said, reported RTS. While it’s true that the variant is more contagious, nearly 90% of those vaccinated with two doses of mRNA […]
All new Swiss cars to have black box recorders
When an aircraft crashes, one the first actions is searching for the black box, which is typically bright orange, in order to understand what went wrong. Switzerland’s road authority would like to see similar technology added to all new cars from 7 July 2024, according to RTS. These black boxes would record information such as […]
Covid: new cases down 43% in Switzerland this week
This week, 1,576 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in Switzerland, down 43% from the week before (2,759), representing the steepest weekly decline in recoded cases since the pandemic began. The daily number of cases on a 7-day rolling average is now 225. Deaths are down too. The number of Covid-19 deaths this week was 10, […]
Basel to become the fifth canton with a minimum wage
Over the weekend, a majority of voters in the canton of Basel-City voted in favour of a minimum wage of CHF 21 (US$ 23) an hour. The move will make Basel-City the first German-speaking Swiss canton to adopt a minimum wage, following in the footsteps of Geneva, Neuchâtel, Jura and Ticino. Until fairly recently Switzerland […]
Swiss government to donate its stock of Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine
After ordering millions of doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, Switzerland has decided to stick to using only the two mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna and donate its doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to other countries. According to Virginie Masserey, head of infectious disease control at Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), the […]
Covid: Swiss commission decides vaccine protection lasts 12 months
After studying the available data, Switzerland’s federal vaccination commission has decided that vaccination protects patients from all forms of Covid-19 for at least 12 months, and even longer against serious forms of the disease, said Virginie Masserey, head of infectious disease control at Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). Masserey, conveyed the decision at […]
Biden and Putin shake hands in Geneva
Around midday on Wednesday 16 June 2021, Vladimir Putin landed at Geneva Airport, according to RTS. US president Joe Biden arrived in Geneva on Tuesday. An hour later, Swiss president Guy Parmelin stood between the two presidents outside the villa La Grange and welcomed them to Geneva, which he referred to as a city of […]
