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 […]
Covid: Swiss cases fall as UK cases turn exponential. Why?
The number of Covid-19 cases in Switzerland continues to fall. On 15 June 2021, 243 new cases were reported. A month earlier the 7-day average was 2,161 cases. Swiss cases have dropped by 89% in a month. In the UK the number of cases has roughly tripled over the same period and the government has […]
Swiss anti-pesticide votes fail – 13 June 2021
Two referenda aiming to cut the use of pesticides on Swiss farms failed to find majorities in voting on Sunday 13 June 2021. The vote focused on clean drinking water and food failed to pass by 39.32% to 60.68%. The initiative found a majority in its favour only in the urban canton of Basel-City (58.76%) […]
Swiss vote in favour of Covid laws and tougher anti-terror policing – 13 June 2021
Two sets of rules produced by Switzerland’s government, one to allow the government to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and another to allow the police to go further in policing terrorism found support with a majority of Swiss voters on Sunday, 13 June 2021. 60.21% of voters supported the government’s Covid-19 laws and 56.58% supported […]
Swiss vote against further CO2 taxes
Swiss government plans to raise taxes on high emission activities, which included heating houses with oil, motoring and flying failed to find a majority across the nation in voting that took place on 13 June 2021. Overall, 51.59% of voters were against the plan, a result that has surprised many. The new taxes, which were […]
Swiss to vote on CO2 taxes. How much could it cost?
On 13 June 2021, Swiss voters will decide on whether to accept a government plan to raise taxes on certain high emission activities, which include additional taxes on heating oil, flights and petrol and diesel for road use. The aim of the revised law is to change behaviour and reduce Switzerland’s emissions. The amount that […]
Covid: new cases down 35% in Switzerland this week
This week, 2,759 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in Switzerland, down 35% from the week before (4,269), continuing a steep downward trend in new numbers of recorded infections. The daily number of cases on a 7-day rolling average is now 394. By 9 June 2021 around 42% of Switzerland’s population had been vaccinated with at least one […]
