As the number of unvaccinated people turning up for a shot dwindles and vaccination centres close, Switzerland’s federal government is launching a promotional effort to encourage those indifferent to or afraid of jabs to come forward and get vaccinated against Covid-19. Switzerland’s vaccination programme has almost ground to a halt. The percentage of the population […]
Swiss anti-Covid certificate referendum gets record number of signatures
Launching a vote to repeal a Swiss law requires 50,000 voter signatures be collected within 100 days. A group opposed to a Swiss law allowing the issuance of voluntary Covid certificates gathered more than 187,000 signatures in 4 weeks, setting a new record, according to 20 Minutes. Collecting as many as 187,433 signatures in the […]
Switzerland locked out of EU research project
On 14 July 2021, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation reported that it had been told by the European Commission that Switzerland will be treated as a non-associated third country in the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. This means that Switzerland can only participate in limited ways. It can put forward […]
Covid: Swiss cases nearly double this week as vaccination stalls
This week, 3,033 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in Switzerland, nearly double (+89%) the number the week before (1,609). The daily number of cases on a 7-day rolling average was 433. The faster spreading Delta variant made up 83% of all samples sequenced in Switzerland on 5 July 2021. The number of Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths in […]
How the Swiss government gets paid to borrow
Normally, those who borrow must pay out more money than they are lent in the form of interest and repayments. Currently, for the Swiss government it is the other way around. Lenders are paying the Swiss federal government to give it money. On 14 July 2021, the Swiss Confederation announced the success of its latest […]
Some charging for rapid Covid tests that are supposed to be free
According to a report by the newspaper Le Matin, some testing centres in Switzerland are charging for rapid antigen tests despite the federal government announcing it would cover the cost of these tests. With many holiday destinations still requiring negative Covid-19 tests as a condition of entry, those heading across borders for the summer holidays […]
Flood warnings reach maximum in central Switzerland
On 15 July 2021, Switzerland’s flood warnings reached the maximum level of 5 in some parts of central Switzerland. Continuous and intense rain on the northern slopes of the Alps and adjacent areas as well as northwestern Switzerland has led to a critical flood situation, warned the Federal government on its natural hazards portal. Intense […]
Price comparison site Comparis customer data exposed in ransomware attack
On 9 July 2021, the Swiss price comparison website Comparis revealed that it had been the victim of a ransomeware cyber attack on Wednesday, 7 July 2021. According to Comparis, the attack occurred in the morning. Comparis took down several of its sites as a security measure. The attackers demanded money in exchange for decrypting […]
Covid: 67% of Geneva now has antibodies
Vaccination has pushed the percentage of residents in Geneva with antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus up to 67%, according to a recent study by Geneva’s HUG hospital. To some extent, Geneva has been at the forefront of Switzerland’s experience with Covid-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the canton has recorded Switzerland’s highest rate of […]
Covid: 483 new cases in 24 hours in Switzerland
On 13 July 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported 483 new cases of Covid-19, up from a daily average of 274 over the preceding three days. The rise in cases follows a rising trend in the incidence of the more infectious Delta variant, which now makes up the majority of DNA sequenced […]
