Over the weekend the owners of a family-run restaurant were taken into police custody for defiantly operating their restaurant in contravention of Switzerland’s Covid rules, reported 20 Minutes. On Saturday 30 October 2021, the police arrested the operators of the Walliserkanne restaurant in Zermatt. Three family members, a mother, father and son were arrested on […]
Covid: new cases up 30% this week in Switzerland
This week, 10,148 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Switzerland, up 30% from the 7,818 recorded the week before. On a 7-day moving average basis, the number of daily new cases was 1,450. The number entering hospital with Covid-19 was stable. Over the last 7 days, 119 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospital with Covid-19 compared to […]
Last authorised Covid protest before vote takes place peacefully in Bern
Last weekend, several thousand protestors assembled outside the Federal Palace in Bern to voice their opposition to Switzerland’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, reported Tribune de Genève. The protest is likely to be the last one authorised in the city ahead of a vote on 28 November 2021 to reverse laws introduced by the Swiss […]
Swiss life expectancy drops sharply in 2020
Recently published figures show the largest fall in male life expectancy in Switzerland since 1944 and the largest since 1962 for women. In 2020, a year marked by Covid-19, life expectancy at birth fell to 81.0 for men and 85.1 for women, a decline of 0.9 and 0.5 years respectively compared with 2019. Such a […]
Swiss government moves closer to legalising cannabis
This week, a Council of States commission accepted a plan to regulate the cannabis trade in Switzerland, reported 20 Minutes. This decision by the public health commission follows an earlier one by a parliamentary commission looking at the same question. The way is now clear for parliament to create a new law that lifts the […]
Covid: more contagious Delta Plus variant detected in Switzerland
A sub-variant of the Delta variant, often referred to as Delta Plus was detected in Switzerland for the first time in September 2021, announced the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) this week, reported Le Matin. Detected for the first time in India over spring, the AY4.2 variant or Delta Plus variant is thought to […]
Covid: Switzerland approves third vaccine doses
Since the beginning of September 2021, around 30% of the people dying of Covid-19 in Switzerland have been fully vaccinated. Vaccination against the disease in Switzerland started in December 2020 and some of those dying were among the first to be vaccinated. A man interviewed by the Sonntagszeitung is convinced his mother, who was among […]
Covid: new cases up 27% this week in Switzerland as winter approaches
This week, 7,818 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Switzerland, up 27% from the 6,174 recorded the week before. On a 7-day moving average basis, the number of daily new cases (1,117) is back above 1,000 a day. The number entering hospital with Covid-19 is stable. Over the last 7 days, 101 Covid-19 patients were admitted to […]
Switzerland faces nurse shortage as exhaustion drives some to quit
Currently, with nearly 6,000 nursing vacancies in Switzerland the sector raises the alarm, reports 20 Minutes. According to the latest figures, there are a record 5.761 unfilled nursing positions in Switzerland. At the same time in 2019 there were 4,716, 18% fewer. Vacancies now represent around 3% of the 185,600 nurses currently working in Switzerland. […]
Number testing for Covid down 30% in a week
Pharmacies in the Swiss canton of Vaud reported a 30% drop in the number of Covid tests after the government stopped covering the cost of them on 10 October 2021, reported RTS. Until 10 October 2021, most Covid tests in Switzerland were paid for by the government. Anyone could get a free lateral flow test, […]
