Tag Archives: health

© Tea | Dreamstime.com From Monday 8 February 2021, many people entering Switzerland require a negative PCR test. Currently, there are restrictions on who can enter Switzerland. Generally, only those with a Swiss passport, a valid Swiss residence or cross-border permit, and those who are citizens of an EU or EFTA nation are allowed to enter Switzerland under the current Covid-19 restrictions. There are a few narrow exemptions. In addition, from 8 February 2021,...

© Michael Müller | Dreamstime.com Since reaching a peak in early November 2020, Covid-19 cases in Switzerland have fallen significantly. The 7-day daily average was 8,238 on 8 November 2020. By 8 February 2021, this figure was down by more than 80% at 1,437. However, according to Martin Ackermann, head of the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force, now is not the time for Switzerland to relax. New faster spreading variants mean the headline case numbers are...

Israel leads the world in the race to vaccinate against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in what some are calling the world’s leading Covid-19 vaccine experiment. 64 doses of vaccine per 100 people have been administered there, far more than in any other nation. Israel’s strategy has focused on protecting the most vulnerable first. By 6 February 2021, 80% of the population over 60 had been vaccinated, compared to less than half that percentage among those under 60 – see chart...

This week, the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force published a guide on responding to coronavirus denial. During second wave, trust in the decisions of the Swiss authorities dropped below where it was in spring, and the social consensus on how to respond to the pandemic eroded over the summer, said the authors. Conspiracy theories and misinformation have contributed to this trend and reduced the adoption of measures to control the spread of the virus, said the...

Novartis launched a new strategy in sub-Saharan Africa in 2019. Sales people will no longer be incentivised by sales targets but rather by patients reached. Reuters / Baz Ratner Novartis has said it wants everyone in the world to be able to access its products, even multi-million-dollar gene therapies. Can its experiment work? Five years ago, Swiss pharma firm Novartis did something no one else in the industry had ever done. It set out to rigorously evaluate whether...

A recent study by Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force calculates that vaccination delays are reducing Switzerland’s national output (GDP) by between CHF 50 – 100 million per day, according to RTS. © Ballok Beata | Dreamstime.comMarius Brülhart, an economics professor, told the broadcaster that vaccinating as fast as possible is important not only from a health stand point but also from an economic one. Some nations have already managed to vaccinate a significantly higher...

The Johnson & Johnson campus in Zug © Keystone / Urs Flueeler American pharma group Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is to transfer four of its canton Neuchâtel-based subsidiaries to other locations – including abroad. The move is expected to result in the loss of up to 320 jobs by mid-2023. The company wants to move the production lines for its two of its subsidiaries in Neuchâtel, western Switzerland, to Puerto Rico and Mexico. The inspection and storage...

Verbier ski lift © Le News SARL According to a recent survey by Swiss media company Tamedia, 55% of the population is in favour of closing the country’s ski domains if the Covid-19 situation gets worse. reported the newspaper 20 Minutes. Ski resorts have been working hard to control crowds and police mask wearing. At Verbier, ‘Covid Angels’ are ever present, reminding people to pull masks up over noses and have relieved a number of the worst transgressors of their...

A nurse administers the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on the opening day of the new vaccination centre at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) on January 11, 2021. Keystone / Laurent Gillieron The Swiss Covid-19 vaccination campaign is up and running with two approved vaccines available to accelerate the fight against the virus, and others set to follow. How do the vaccine technologies work and compare, and can people choose which one they get? So far, there...

This week, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported 17,245 positive Covid-19 cases and 387 deaths. Over the seven days to 15 January 2021, the number daily cases reported in Switzerland averaged 2,464. This figure is significantly below the daily reported average leading up to Christmas. In the 7 days to 18 December 2020, the average daily number was around 4,300. Over the last 24 hours the results of 25,092 tests were reported, with test...