The number unemployed in Switzerland at 30 June 2020, fell 5,709 in June to 159,289, according to the State Secretariat for the Economy (SECO). Switzerland’s unemployment rate fell from 3.4% to 3.2%. However, despite improving on May 2020, the number unemployed was 53,067 (+54.6%) higher than at the end of June 2019. Switzerland’s official unemployment […]
The shame of John Calvin: will “Black Lives Matter” force Switzerland to acknowledge its own history of human rights abusers?
By Andy Cohen Often referred to as the human rights or humanitarian capital of the world, Geneva has for decades managed to revere an ugly truth in the form of an authoritarian, if not murderous, religious abuser. The legacy of Reformist John Calvin – Jean Calvin in French, born Jehan Cauvin in Picardy – is […]
Immigration slowdown hits Swiss rents
In 1999, Switzerland signed a deal with the EU allowing free movement of people between Switzerland and the bloc. The deal came into force in 2002. This led to a rise in immigration into Switzerland, which in turn eventually led to rising rents. However, since 2014 there has been a marked slowdown in EU immigration […]
No salary during quarantine for those returning to Switzerland from a SARS-CoV-2 risk country
Employees required to quarantine after returning to Switzerland from a SARS-CoV-2 risk country have no right to be paid during quarantine, according to the Swiss Employers Union, an employers association. This echos Switzerland’s Covid-19 Ordinance. Those who have to go into quarantine in accordance with Switzerland’s COVID-19 ordinance are not entitled to loss of earnings […]
Switzerland’s list of 29 compulsory quarantine countries
Anyone arriving in Switzerland from a state or area with an increased risk of infection is legally required to quarantine themselves for 10 days. If you enter Switzerland and have spent time in a country or region where there is an increased risk of infection in the past 14 days you must go to your […]
People should avoid indoor events and nightclubs, says Swiss Covid-19 task force
An alert from Switzerland’s Covid-19 science task force advises people avoid indoor events, nightclubs and bars in particular. It states that it is extremely important to react rapidly. When measures are introduced too late it is much more difficult to control the epidemic and to avoid a second wave, and the negative impacts on the […]
Some Swiss cantons extend compulsory mask wearing to shops
The cantons of Vaud and Jura recently announced that masks must be worn in shops and supermarkets. After bringing the initial wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections under control through a series of nationwide measures, Switzerland’s federal government decided to take a more backseat role, allowing the governments of the nation’s cantons to take a more localised […]
How Switzerland’s best river swim became a summertime commute
Most people float down the Aare River in Bern just for fun. For Evelyn Schneider-Reyes, it was her summertime commute home. “I only had like 30 seconds walking from my office to the river,” she recalls. “I had an ‘Aare Bag’, where I put all my clothes, my smartphone, wallet and shoes. I put on […]
Renowned artist EDWARD HOPPER in Basel
Solitary, pensive figures. Deserted streets or a luminous gas station in twilight. A night diner seen from outside. These are the static, atmospheric scenes we usually connect with Edward Hopper’s paintings. A uniquely American artist, who lived from 1882 to 1967. The famed Beyeler museum in Basel has chosen to exhibit a few of these, […]
