Starting from midnight on Sunday, 24 January 2021, a negative PCR test done within the 72 of departure will be required to enter France, announced French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday. This requirement, which now applies to all countries, already existed for people travelling to France from outside Europe. The extended rule will apply to […]
Covid: 169,783 vaccinations in Switzerland so far
According to numbers reported on Friday 22 January 2021, a total of 169,783 doses of vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been administered in Switzerland. The number of people vaccinated will be lower than this figure because both of the vaccines approved for use in Switzerland are given in two doses. Currently, less than 2% […]
Covid: Swiss death toll passes 9,000 as death rate slows
This week, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported 14,051 positive Covid-19 cases and 366 deaths. Over the seven days to 22 January 2021, the number daily cases reported in Switzerland averaged 2,007, a figure 19% lower than the daily reported average of 2,464 reported the week before. The number of weekly reported deaths […]
Covid: the hidden burden of overloaded Swiss hospitals
Significant hidden health costs lie behind the overloading of intensive care units (ICU), according to a recent Swiss study. The study, done by Switzerland’s National COVID-19 Science Task Force, calculated that the number of non-Covid patients in ICU has more than halved since the beginning of the second wave of infections in Switzerland. “Decline in […]
Swiss federal government rejects vote to ban burqas
On 7 March 2021, Swiss voters will vote on a federal ban on covering faces in public, a referendum focused on women wearing burqas and niqabs. The Egerkingen initiative aims to ban face coverings in public and to protect the free will of women to leave their faces uncovered. The proposal makes exceptions, such as […]
Covid: schools to close in some Swiss cantons
After consulting with the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force, Switzerland’s scientific Covid advisory team, Switzerland’s federal government has decided to leave schools open. However, cantons can still decide to close them if they decide to and some have done so. For the Task Force classroom teaching should only be prevented if the epidemiological situation […]
Avalanches: 7 ski deaths in three days in Switzerland
At around 10:20am on Monday 18 January 2021, ten people were caught in an avalanche below Les Attelas in Verbier – pictured below. All ten, who were wearing avalanche detectors, were found, however, a 38 year old British citizen and resident of Verbier died and another was rushed to hospital in a helicopter, according to […]
Covid: 17,245 cases and 387 deaths reported in Switzerland this week
This week, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported 17,245 positive Covid-19 cases and 387 deaths. Over the seven days to 15 January 2021, the number daily cases reported in Switzerland averaged 2,464. This figure is significantly below the daily reported average leading up to Christmas. In the 7 days to 18 December 2020, […]
Covid: Switzerland reaches 66,000 vaccinations against the virus
Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) recently reported that 66,000 people in Switzerland had been vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. The number was communicated by Nora Kronig of the FOPH during a press conference in Bern on Thursday 14 January 2020. The 66,000 is likely to be lower than the actual […]
Swiss inflation turns negative in 2020
During 2020, average annual inflation was –0.7%, according to Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO). In December 2020, Switzerland’s consumer price index (CPI) fell by 0.1% compared with November 2020. Compared to December 2019, prices in December 2020 were 0.8% lower. Annual inflation reached -0.7% across the full year. The main drivers of a falling CPI […]
