At the end of October 2021, annual inflation in Switzerland reached 1.2% after rising 0.3% over the month, according to the Federal Statistical Office. This is the highest the annual rate has been since August 2018 when it reached 1.2%. The price rises hitting Swiss pockets the hardest over the last 12 months include rent […]
Zermatt restaurant operators in prison after defying Covid rules
Over the weekend the owners of a family-run restaurant were taken into police custody for defiantly operating their restaurant in contravention of Switzerland’s Covid rules, reported 20 Minutes. On Saturday 30 October 2021, the police arrested the operators of the Walliserkanne restaurant in Zermatt. Three family members, a mother, father and son were arrested on […]
Covid: new cases up 30% this week in Switzerland
This week, 10,148 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Switzerland, up 30% from the 7,818 recorded the week before. On a 7-day moving average basis, the number of daily new cases was 1,450. The number entering hospital with Covid-19 was stable. Over the last 7 days, 119 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospital with Covid-19 compared to […]
Last authorised Covid protest before vote takes place peacefully in Bern
Last weekend, several thousand protestors assembled outside the Federal Palace in Bern to voice their opposition to Switzerland’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, reported Tribune de Genève. The protest is likely to be the last one authorised in the city ahead of a vote on 28 November 2021 to reverse laws introduced by the Swiss […]
Swiss government deficit for 2021 revised down
The latest forecast for 2021 shows a deficit of CHF 14.8 billion, down CHF 2.6 billion from an earlier forecast shortfall of CHF 17.4 billion. The deficit is driven mainly by the extraordinary cost of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. The federal government expects to spend CHF 4.1 billion on vaccines (1.2) and tests (2.5) […]
Swiss life expectancy drops sharply in 2020
Recently published figures show the largest fall in male life expectancy in Switzerland since 1944 and the largest since 1962 for women. In 2020, a year marked by Covid-19, life expectancy at birth fell to 81.0 for men and 85.1 for women, a decline of 0.9 and 0.5 years respectively compared with 2019. Such a […]
Switzerland wants to make it easier for some foreign students to stay
On 27 October 2021, the Federal Council put forward a plan to change the rules around foreign students working in Switzerland upon completing study at a Swiss university. The proposed rules would allow those graduating from Swiss universities with masters or doctorates in fields with a shortage of workers to work in Switzerland more easily. […]
Switzerland hatches plan to use roads and railways to produce electricity
On 27 October 2021, the Swiss government adopted a report setting out how Swiss motorways and railway lines could be used to generate more than 100 GWh of electricity a year. Calculations in the report show that solar panels placed on noise reduction barriers running along the edges of motorways and railway lines in Switzerland […]
Swiss government moves closer to legalising cannabis
This week, a Council of States commission accepted a plan to regulate the cannabis trade in Switzerland, reported 20 Minutes. This decision by the public health commission follows an earlier one by a parliamentary commission looking at the same question. The way is now clear for parliament to create a new law that lifts the […]
Covid: more contagious Delta Plus variant detected in Switzerland
A sub-variant of the Delta variant, often referred to as Delta Plus was detected in Switzerland for the first time in September 2021, announced the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) this week, reported Le Matin. Detected for the first time in India over spring, the AY4.2 variant or Delta Plus variant is thought to […]
