Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

Those with teenagers wishing for the greater travel freedom likely to come with proof of vaccination may have cause for hope. On 7 May 2021, Pfizer submitted an authorisation application to Swissmedic, Switzerland’s drug approval agency, for use of its vaccine against Covid-19 on those aged 12 to 15 years old. © Jovanmandic | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge The application asks for the authorisation of the vaccine, which is currently being used on adults in...

With five weeks to go before Swiss vote on two initiatives aimed at drastically cutting the use of pesticides, more than 50% appear to be in favour of both initiatives, according to RTS. © Dusan Kostic | Dreamstime.comOne of these initiatives, the clean drinking water initiative, aims to tie access to Switzerland’s generous farm subsidies to forgoing pesticide (and antibiotic) use. The second aims to ban the use of synthetic pesticide use more broadly after a 10 year...

This week, saw 10,639 new Covid-19 cases in Switzerland, down 21% from a week before (13,465) continuing the slow down in growth of new numbers experienced last week (-5%). The 7-day average is currently 1,519. “We have good reasons to be optimistic,” said Patrick Mathys, head of the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force at a press conference in Bern on Wednesday. According to Mathys, there is a good chance that this downward trend will continue over the next...

Consumer sentiment among Swiss households is improving, according to Switzerland’s economic affairs office (SECO). © Rosaria De Marco | Dreamstime.comIn April 2021, the consumer sentiment index climbed back to -7 points after reaching a low of -40 in early 2020. The level of -7 is close to the pre-crisis level of early 2020 and close to its long term average of -5. The primary reason for the rise in consumer sentiment is a significant improvement in expectations regarding general...

Consumer sentiment among Swiss households is improving, according to Switzerland’s economic affairs office (SECO). © Rosaria De Marco | Dreamstime.comIn April 2021, the consumer sentiment index climbed back to -7 points after reaching a low of -40 in early 2020. The level of -7 is close to the pre-crisis level of early 2020 and close to its long term average of -5. The primary reason for the rise in consumer sentiment is a significant improvement in...

On 6 May 2021, SWISS announced a plan to cut jobs and the size of its fleet. © Boarding1now | Dreamstime.comDue to the continuing global coronavirus pandemic and structural changes in the market, the company expects a 20% structural decline in demand. In response, the airline plans to cut the fleet it had in 2019 by 15% and bring its personnel numbers down by 1,700 – before the pandemic SWISS employed 9,500 people. The company described the cuts as unavoidable. Much of this staff...

Last Wednesday, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced that old Swiss banknotes would no longer be legal tender from Friday, 30 April 2021. The short notice period has generated complaints and confusion. © Marekusz | Dreamstime.comThe eighth series of Swiss banknotes did not lose their value, however, they are no longer an accepted means of exchange. The only places they can still be used are at Swiss Rail and Swiss Post until the end of October 2021. They can however be exchanged at...

This week, saw 13,465 new Covid-19 cases in Switzerland, down 5% from a week before (14,110) continuing the 5% slow down in growth of new numbers experienced last week. © Andrii Kozlytskyi | Dreamstime.comThe 7-day average is currently 1,924, dipping below the level of 2,000 for the first time since 11 April 2021. By 30 April 2021, 10.8% of Switzerland’s population was fully vaccinated, up from 9.6% a week earlier. This week, the number of doses administered...

Some agencies in Geneva are exploiting the city’s tight property market by charging people money just to view apartments, according to a report by RTS. © Bogdan Lazar | Dreamstime.comA practice described as parasitic by ASLOCA, a rental association, involves an agency contacting those who have placed adverts for vacant apartments and offering them their services. The agency promises to find tenants at no cost to the advertiser if they take down their advert. It then makes its money by...

On 30 April 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office released salary data for 2020 which showed a 1.5% rise in real salaries compared to 2019. © Suwat Supachavinswad | Dreamstime.comIn 2020, a 0.8% rise in nominal salaries was boosted by inflation of -0.7% bringing the total increase in the real average Swiss salary to 1.5%. The last time salaries rose this much was in 2015 when the real increase was 1.5%. In both 2015 and 2020 negative inflation of -1.1% and -0.7% significantly...