In Switzerland, all able bodied male citizens are required by law to serve in Switzerland’s military. For Swiss women there is currently no such obligation. A recently published defence ministry report outlines measures to encourage the integration of more women in the Swiss army, who currently make up only 0.9% of Switzerland’s military personnel. Thomas […]
Pressure on staff to be vaccinated in Swiss nursing home sparks controversy
The Kohlfirst retirement home in Zurich’s Weinland has a long term aim to ensure that all employees are vaccinated against Covid-19, according to SRF. Pressure to be vaccinated is being applied in numerous ways, such as greater testing of those who are unvaccinated and preferential access to outside training courses for those already vaccinated. The […]
Swiss burka ban passed with support of muslims and feminists
On 7 March 2021, a vote to ban face covering was accepted by 51.2% of Swiss voters. The proposal achieved majorities in 20 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons. Only in the cantons of Graubunden, a canton with a large tourism sector, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Bern, and the urban cantons of Basel-City, Geneva, Zurich did a majority of voters reject the ban […]
Farming lobby hurting Swiss chocolate sector, says industry association
Swiss chocolate sales went into steep decline in 2020, according to ChocoSuisse, Switzerland’s chocolate industry association. The amount of chocolate produced in Switzerland in 2020 was 10% lower than in 2019 and sales revenue was down by 14.5%, a sharp drop. In 2020, Swiss chocolatiers produced around 180,000 tons, 20,000 tons less than the year […]
Swiss vote in favour of face covering ban and Indonesian trade deal but not e-ID – 7 Mar 2021
Today, Swiss voters voted on whether to ban face covering, whether to accept a government plan for issuing electronic IDs and whether to accept a trade deal with Indonesia that some argue does too little to protect tropical forests. Both the votes on banning face covering and accepting the trade deal with Indonesia were accepted by 51.2% and 51.7% of voters respectively. […]
Covid: Swiss government to offer free tests for all
When the SARS-CoV-2 virus arrived in Switzerland it was difficult to qualify for a test and patients had to pay for them themselves, with health insurance covering a portion of the cost for some people. Then over the summer, the federal government offered to cover the cost of the tests, but only for those meeting […]
Swiss to vote on electronic IDs
On 7 March 2021, Swiss will vote on whether to accept laws to allow the issuance of electronic IDs. Switzerland’s government has come up with a plan to improve online identification via an e-ID. The aim is to create a secure reliable form of electronic ID that can be used online. To this end it […]
Swiss to vote on face covering ban
On 7 March 2021, Swiss voters will vote on whether to ban face coverings in public. Discussions on the ban are typically focused on the burka. However, the burka is a specific blue face and body covering found mainly in Afghanistan, which is not seen in Switzerland. The term burqa is sometimes conflated with niqab […]
Swiss to vote on trade deal with Indonesia
On 7 March 2021, Swiss voters will vote on whether to accept a new trade deal with Indonesia. The deal agreed by the Swiss and Indonesian governments aims to improve trade with South East Asia’s largest economy by cutting tariffs in both directions. However, the deal has opponents who have successfully called a referendum against […]
Covid: cases up slightly again in Switzerland this week as vaccinations slowly proceed
Over the seven days to 5 March 2021, Switzerland reported 7,358 new positive Covid-19 cases, 2.8% more than the week before, when cases rose by 1.5%. However, the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force remains concerned. Case numbers can quickly rise, as they did in early October 2020. On 12 October 2020, there were around 1,200 […]
