Switzerland has signed an agreement with the American company Moderna to buy 4.5 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, which is moving into phase 3 testing, according to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). FOPH said the move is designed to ensure Switzerland has rapid access to the vaccine once it has been approved. […]
Coronavirus: Geneva closes nightclubs
Last Friday, the authorities in Geneva announced nightclubs must close immediately as part of a plan to stem the recent rise in the number of new SARS-CoV-2 infections. On 22 June 2020, after a period of consistently low new infections, Switzerland’s federal government decided to ease restrictions across the country. However, the cantonal authorities in […]
Switzerland adds Spain and 6 other nations to its compulsory quarantine list
From 8 August 2020, people returning to Switzerland from Spain and 45 other nations must quarantine for 10 days. On 5 August 2020, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) added 7 nations to its existing list of countries where there is an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among them are Spain (with the exception […]
Beaches closed in Neuchâtel after dogs die from poisoning
At least six dogs have died after being poisoning on the edge of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, according to RTS. The local police force closed beaches between the town of Colombier (NE) and the mouth of the Areuse river after several dogs died. Swimming is now banned in the area. The exact area covered by […]
Coronavirus: 40% jump in new cases in Switzerland this week
In the seven days to 31 July 2020, the reported number of new SARS-CoV-2 infections recorded in Switzerland was 1,078, 40% more than the 772 cases recorded the week before. Over the weeks prior to this there were 589 and 692 new cases, according to worldinfometer.com. The number of new cases this week is at a […]
Coronavirus: health experts pressure Swiss government to tighten entry rules
A group of health experts would like to see Switzerland’s list of risk countries extended to include nations that do little or no testing, according to the newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ). The experts include epidemiologist Marcel Tanner of Switzerland’s Covid-19 task force. The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), which is in charge of […]
Coronavirus: more than 8,000 deaths in Switzerland if lockdown had been delayed by a week
Researchers at the University of Bern estimate that Covid-19 could have killed between 8,038 and 9,453 people in Switzerland if lockdown had come a week later, far more than the 1,980 deaths recorded so far. Switzerland’s federal government was slow to take the threat posed by the virus seriously. On 24 February 2020, Daniel Koch, […]
Masks soon compulsory in shops in Geneva
After 46 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Geneva on Thursday, State Councillor Mauro Poggia announced masks would be compulsory in retailers in the canton from 28 July 2020, according to RTS. The canton of Geneva follows Vaud and Jura, two cantons that introduced a similar requirement from 6 July 2020. Washing hands with […]
Most returning to Switzerland from Covid-19 risk countries skipping quarantine
Less than half of those returning to Switzerland from countries listed by the Swiss government as having a high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection are complying with the quarantine rules set out in Switzerland’s Epidemic Act, according to an estimate by the NZZ newspaper. Since 6 July 2020, anyone entering Switzerland from a specified list of […]
SwissCovid app gains ground
The number of active users of the SwissCovid app has risen since reaching a nadir nearly two weeks ago. On 25 June 2020, Switzerland’s contact tracing app, known as SwissCovid, became available for download. Over the following 10 days, around 1.6 million people downloaded the app. However, not everyone downloading it switched it on. On […]
