Tag Archives: health

© Denis Linine | Dreamstime.com On 7 September 2020, Switzerland added to its list of quarantine countries. People entering Switzerland from 55 nations must now quarantine for 10 days. On 7 September 2020, 10 nations were added to the list. These include Croatia, French Polynesia, Guyana, Lebanon, Libya, Paraguay, San Marino, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates. From 7 September 2020, anyone who has spent time in these countries over the 14 days prior...

A report published this week places Switzerland fourth on a list of countries best positioned to make an economic rebound after the coronavirus downturn. © Octavian Lazar | Dreamstime.comThe analysis looks at overall health resilience, pre-existing structural strengths and weaknesses in 122 countries. The top four nations are Finland, Norway, Germany and Switzerland. These countries combine world class governance with high levels of social capital and high social resilience. They also...

© Tatiana Kozachenko | Dreamstime.com In Switzerland, over the three months following 31 May 2020, there have been 11,306 recorded cases of Covid-19 and 91 deaths, a case fatality rate (CFR) of 0.8%. However, up to this date there were 30,862 cases and 1,920 deaths, a CFR of 6.2%. Why has Switzerland’s CFR fallen so steeply? A number of factors could explain the decline. Testing The first is testing. Recorded case numbers before 1 June 2020 are not comparable to...

With daily infection rates in France rising to levels not seen since its previous peak in April 2020, the Swiss government is considering modifying its quarantine risk list system to include certain French regions rather than the whole country. © Eq Roy | Dreamstime.comThe idea is being discussed as a potential way to avoid paralysing parts of Switzerland that rely on large daily flows of cross-border workers, the cantons of Geneva, Vaud and Basel-City in particular. Geneva and France...

© Yulan | Dreamstime.com In the seven days to 10 July 2020, the reported number of new SARS-CoV-2 infections recorded in Switzerland was 589, a similar number to the week before, when 615 new cases were recorded. Over the weeks prior to this there were 251 and 172 new cases, according to worldinfometer.com. Much of the recent rise in infections is due to clusters of infections found among people going to nightclubs and bars. Late last week Switzerland’s Covid-19...

Recently published figures show a overall jump of 30.2% in retail sales in May 2020 compared to April 2020. © Nora Tarvus | Dreamstime.comMay’s rise of 30.2% follows falls of 6.5% in March and 13.7% in April. However not all retail sectors experienced the same rise in May sales. Food, drink and tobacco sales rose 3.4% and fuel sales were up 6.3% month on month. Clothing and shoe sales were up a whopping 433.5% compared to April. Clothing and shoe sales fell 55.4% and 61.0% in March...

© Andres Jacobi | Dreamstime.com On 1 July 2020, Switzerland’s federal government announced that it would become compulsory to wear masks on public transport from 6 July 2020. Due to the the growing number of people using public transport and a rise in the number of people testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 since mid-June, the Federal Council has decided to make it compulsory for those taking public transport to wear a mask. 137 new SARS-CoV-2 infections were reported...

© Kvaka9 | Dreamstime.com As the events and decisions surrounding the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus become clearer, fingers are being pointed. A mass lawsuit targeting events in the Austrian resort of Ischgl is looming, according to Bloomberg. Could similar legal action spread to Swiss resorts? At the end of last year, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission issued a public notice confirming 27 cases of a new virus and recommended wearing face masks. Around three...

© Michael Müller | Dreamstime.com On 19 June 2020, Switzerland’s extraordinary state in relation to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic ended. This was accompanied by further easing of restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of the virus. Hand washing, maintaining social distance and mask wearing are the three golden rules that remain, according to Swiss president Simonetta Sommaruga. The minimum distance to be maintained between people in public spaces was reduced to 1.5...

On 25 June 2020, Switzerland’s contact tracing app, known as SwissCovid, became available for download.Created by a group of specialists at EPFL led by Marcel Salathé, a professor of digital epidemiology, the app allows chains of infection to be traced by informing people if they have been in contact with anyone infected. Countries, like South Korea, that have done a good job of this have been able to quickly isolate infected people and halt the spread of the virus....