On 8 September 2021, the Swiss government decided to extend the use of Covid certificates. From Monday 13 September 2021, a certificate will be required to enter bars, restaurants, museums, cinemas, theatres and pools, a system already operating in numerous countries, such as Italy. The decision comes on a day when the health authorities announced […]
Covid: vaccine side effects rare, suggest Swiss data
Over the 8 months from 1 January and 1 September 2021, close to 10 million doses (9.7 million) of the Moderna (6.4 million) and Pfizer/BioNTech (3.3 million) Covid-19 vaccines were given to more than 5 million people in Switzerland. Over this time there were 6,603 official reports of side effects, which represents 0.07% of doses. […]
Switzerland repatriating 80 Covid-19 patients
80 Covid-19 patients require repatriating to Switzerland. 10% of them require urgent transfer and some need intensive care, reported 20 Minutes. Lukas Engelberger, a director of the association of cantonal health directors, described the situation as complicated and said that it could have been avoided if people had responded to calls to get vaccinated. More […]
Covid patients more seriously ill than earlier waves, says ICU doctor
On 3 September 2021, the head of intensive care (ICU) at the Insel Hospital in Bern told the Berner Zeitung that those currently in hospital with Covid-19 are more seriously ill than during previous waves of Covid-19 infection. Stephan Jakob, head of ICU at the hospital said that of the 7 people currently in intensive […]
Swiss meat industry hits back at exclusively vegetarian canteen
Since the beginning of the university year, the canteen at the University of Luzern has offered only vegetarian dishes. Meat, including fish, are now absent from the menu. Luzern is the first university in Switzerland to make such a move as a way to reduce its environmental impact. According to a report by the newspaper […]
Swiss gain weight rapidly during Covid-19 pandemic
Like most of the world, Switzerland has an obesity problem. From 1992 to 2017, obesity in Switzerland rose from 5% to 11% of the population. In addition, a further 31% of the population was considered overweight, bringing the total with a weight problem to 42% of the population. The Covid-19 pandemic has added to the […]
Covid: almost no increase in new cases in Switzerland this week
This week, 18,055 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Switzerland, rising less than 1% (0.3%) from the week before (17,997). After many weeks of rising new cases of Covid-19, the number of new infections this week in Switzerland was only slightly above the number a week earlier. At the same time deaths have risen. This […]
Covid: Swiss cases up this week as pressure rises on hospitals
This week, 17,997 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Switzerland, up 22% from the week before (14,811). Many Swiss health experts are now referring to the current situation as a fourth wave. However, despite high rates of infection, death numbers are relatively low now that 51% of Switzerland’s population has now been fully vaccinated, including a majority […]
US FDA fully approves first Covid-19 vaccine
On 23 August 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first Covid-19 vaccine. The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine has now been approved for use in individuals 16 and older. Previously, the vaccine was available under emergency use authorisation, a status which remains for use on those aged 12 to 15. “The FDA’s approval of […]
Swiss women rank top globally for hypertension in 2019
A recently published study funded by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on rates of high blood pressure ranks Switzerland’s women top, with the lowest rate of hypertension among the 200 nations studied. The study estimates that 17% of Switzerland’s women suffer from hypertension. The top 10 nations for women include Peru (18%), Canada (20%), Taiwan […]
