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 […]
Covid: Swiss cases nearly double this week as Delta rises
This week, 1,609 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in Switzerland, nearly double (+95%) the number the week before (827). The daily number of cases on a 7-day rolling average was 230 and the fast spreading Delta variant made up 83% of all samples sequenced on 28 June 2021. This week, the number of Covid-19 deaths […]
Swiss CO2 taxes to rise in 2022
Switzerland has a mechanism that automatically increases taxes on fossil fuels if emission reduction targets are not met. And the small reduction in emissions in 2020 is not enough to avoid triggering a CO2 tax rise in 2022. Data published this week by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) confirms the slow progress in […]
EU now accepts Swiss Covid certificates
The European Commission has given the Swiss Covid certificate a green light for inclusion on the EU-wide digital Covid certificate platform. This means that holders of Swiss Covid certificates are able to present their Swiss-issued Covid certificate QR codes at ports of entry into EU nations under the same conditions as holders of certificates from […]
Swiss unemployment back below 3% again
On 8 July 2021, the Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) published unemployment figures for June 2021. By the end of June 2021, there were close to 132,000 people registered as unemployed across Switzerland, 11,000 fewer than at the end of May 2021, bringing Switzerland’s overall unemployment rate down from 3.1% to 2.8%. Youth employment dropped […]
Swiss government to look at delaying nuclear phaseout
Switzerland’s government has recently begun discussing extending the scheduled closure of the nation’s nuclear power stations, according to RTS. On 26 May 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Council rejected the institutional framework agreement, a deal put together by the EU that would have replaced Switzerland’s existing patchwork of agreements with the bloc. It appears that some in […]
EU recognition of Swiss Covid certificate imminent
According to RTS, Brussels is close to giving the Swiss Covid certificate a green light for inclusion on the EU-wide digital Covid certificate platform. This means that Swiss residents will soon be able to present their Swiss-issued Covid certificate QR codes at ports of entry into EU nations. Swiss digital Covid certificates are expected to […]
