On 14 October 2020, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported 2,823 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection over 24 hours, a record number. In addition, FOPH reported 57 new Covid-19 hospital admissions and a further 8 deaths. The number of Covid-19 patients in Swiss hospitals is now 415, according to RTS. A similar number […]
Initiative against Swiss Covid app fails
In July 2020, a group started gathering signatures to launch a public vote to ban Switzerland’s Covid-19 contact tracing app. To launch a referendum in Switzerland organisers must collect 50,000 signatures from eligible voters within 100 days. Organisers of the “Stop Swiss Covid” initiative had until 8 October 2020 to collect 50,000 signatures. According to […]
Coronavirus: more than 4,000 new cases over 3 days in Switzerland
On 12 October 2020, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported 4,068 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection over 72 hours. The latest 3-day infection figure is 2.6 times the number over the same period a week ago. Switzerland’s 7-day rolling average daily new infection number has jumped from 469 to 1,215 in a week. In addition, […]
Switzerland adds 14 more regions to its compulsory quarantine list
On 9 October 2020, Switzerland added 14 new regions to its quarantine list effective from 12 October 2020. People entering Switzerland from an additional 14 nations/regions must now quarantine for 10 days on arrival in Switzerland. On 9 October 2020, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) added the following places to its list: Land […]
Home vacancy rates continue to rise in Switzerland
Finding a place to rent or buy has never been easy in Switzerland, a real estate market notorious for tight supply of property. Recently published data from Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office show are rise in vacancy rates from 1.66% to 1.72% in 2020. On 1 June 2019, there were 75,383 vacant properties either for rent […]
Swiss National Bank intervenes heavily to weaken Swiss franc
Official data recently released by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) show it sold 51.5 billion Swiss francs while acquiring US dollar and euro-denominated assets in a bid to weaken the franc over the first quarter of 2020. The data followed comments by SNB President Thomas Jordan signalling that even larger interventions may be on the […]
Geneva’s public sector plans strike over 1% Covid pay cut
To help balance its books after the economic shock of the coronavirus epidemic, the canton of Geneva decided to cut public sector pay by 1% and adjust pension deductions. The plan, which affects 50,000 public sector workers and aims to help fill a budgetary hole of CHF 501 million, was announced by Geneva’s government in […]
Coronavirus: third of mild cases suffering from Long Covid in Swiss study
An ongoing study by unisanté in Lausanne has found around a third of mild Covid-19 cases in Switzerland were still suffering symptoms two months after infection, a condition known as Long Covid. All of the patients included in the Swiss study had mild symptoms and were not admitted to hospital. Their average age was 40. […]
Coronavirus: half would get vaccinated in Switzerland
Around half of the population in Switzerland would voluntarily get vaccinated against Covid-19, according to a survey published by Le Matin. Based on the survey run by Tamedia, 54% of those living in Switzerland would get vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The percentage varied by age. Those over 65 (68%) were keener on receiving a […]
Coronavirus: weekly cases more than double in Switzerland
In the week to 9 October 2020, the reported number of new SARS-CoV-2 infections in Switzerland was 5,984, 137% higher than the 2,520 cases recorded the week before. The total number of recorded cases stood at 60,368 by 9 October 2020, representing 0.7% of the population. The 7-day rolling average number of recorded daily new cases this […]
