Category Archive: 3a) Health

Covid: a majority of Swiss in favour of closing ski lifts

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.

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Covid: 17,245 cases and 387 deaths reported in Switzerland this week

This week, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported 17,245 positive Covid-19 cases and 387 deaths.

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Covid: Switzerland reaches 66,000 vaccinations against the virus

Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) recently reported that 66,000 people in Switzerland had been vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. The number was communicated by Nora Kronig of the FOPH during a press conference in Bern on Thursday 14 January 2020.

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Covid: tension rises between Switzerland’s scientists and politicians

Tension between Switzerland’s scientists and politicians is rising, according to RTS. On Saturday, Christian Althaus, an epidemiologist working for the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force, Switzerland’s scientific Covid advisory team, announced his resignation and voiced his frustration on Twitter.

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Long Covid symptoms persist beyond 7 months, according to new data

Recent research based on information from 3,762 Long Covid sufferers shows most still have symptoms after 7 monthsThe study uses patient-driven research and is based on a survey created by a team of patients with COVID-19 who are members of the Body Politic online COVID-19 support group.

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Covid: Switzerland grants approval for second vaccine

On 12 January 2021, Swissmedic, the Swiss agency for the authorisation and supervision of pharmaceutical products, approved a second vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus for the Swiss market.

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Covid: closing Swiss schools one of most effective measures, says study

The number of Covid cases went down significantly in Switzerland during spring as a result of schools closing, according to a study by ETH Zurich, reported RTS. Researchers at the university analysed anonymised mobile phone data of 1.5 billion movements of the Swiss population between 10 February and 26 April 2020. They used this data to calculate how much certain measures reduced mobility and contact.

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Covid: fast-spreading UK strain detected in seven Swiss cantons

The fast spreading strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus discovered in the UK has now been detected in seven Swiss cantons, according to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), reported RTS.

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Errors made managing pandemic, admits new Swiss president

According to RTS, Guy Parmelin, Switzerland’s president since 1 January 2021, told the newspaper SonntagsBlick, that between July and September the government underestimated the pandemic.

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Covid: 9,665 new cases over 4 days in Switzerland

Over the 4 days to 4 January 2020, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported  9,665 new cases and 189 deaths bringing Switzerland’s Covid-19 death toll to 7,831 (confirmed 7,271). 

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Covid: negative test to enter France from Switzerland only required if resident in France

On 19 December 2020, the French government advised against French residents travelling to Switzerland to ski and introduced rules that made returning difficult, including a requirement to show a negative Covid-19 test less than 72 hours old or to quarantine on arrival. © Anne Laure Affre | Dreamstime.comThe rule covered all those entering France from the cantons of Graubünden, Jura, Neuchâtel, Uri, Valais and Vaud. However, it was...

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Covid: UK tourists break Covid quarantine in Verbier

Shortly after the UK announced it was struggling to contain a new faster spreading strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Swiss government announced a backdated 10-day quarantine requirement for UK arrivals. This affected hundreds of UK tourists already in the winter resort of Verbier. Verbier, SwitzerlandAround 400 UK tourists, who had arrived after the retrospective 14 December 2020 quarantine cut off date, were staying the Swiss resort....

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Covid: restaurants and cafés to close across French-speaking Switzerland

Restaurants and cafés will progressively close once more across French-speaking Switzerland starting in the canton of Jura on Tuesday 22 December 2020.

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Covid: retroactive quarantine for those arriving from the UK and South Africa

Following the discovery of a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus in the UK and South Africa, the Federal Council today decided to take steps to prevent the further spread of this new virus strain.

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Covid: Switzerland suspends flights from the UK and South Africa

Late on 20 December 2020, the Swiss government decided to suspend flights to Switzerland from the UK and South Africa following news of the discovery a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus.

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Covid, December 18: 22 percent of Geneva tests positive for antibodies

An update to an antibody study conducted by HUG and UNIGE suggests that 22% of Geneva’s population had been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus by December 2020.

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Covid: Swiss becoming more skeptical of vaccines

Mistrust of vaccines against Covid-19 continues to rise in Switzerland, according to a recently published survey.

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Covid, December 16: declaring extraordinary situation pointless right now, says Swiss minister

Speaking to broadcaster RTS, Swiss health minister Alain Berset said the pandemic was under control and that it currently made no sense to declare an extraordinary situation, a provision in Swiss law on managing infectious diseases that allows the Federal Council to take charge of the situation over and above cantonal governments.

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Covid vaccinations will be free in Switzerland

On 9 December 2020, Switzerland’s federal government adopted a change to the rules on healthcare to make vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus free to the public.

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Italy suspends rail links with Switzerland

Update: It appears rail connections between Italy and Switzerland will not be interrupted after Switzerland’s president and the Italian minister of transport spoke on Wednesday. Solutions have been identified to ensure compliance with Italy’s anti-COVID measures. Rail links are expected to gradually return to normal over the next few days, according to a report by RSI.

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