Tag Archive: Covid-19 Switzerland

France asks Switzerland for help with Covid patients

2021-04-09

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2021-04-09

The French region of Bourgogne-Franche Comté has contacted several Swiss cantons and asked them if they would take Covid patients, according to RTS. Jacques Gerber, the minister of health in the canton of Jura told RTS that there had been a request from France to prepare in case French hospitals become overloaded.

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Switzerland’s low-income earners hit far harder despite lower Covid-19 infection rates

2021-02-28

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2021-02-28

The economic impact of the Covid-​19 pandemic has hit low-income households far harder than those on high incomes, according to a study published by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich.

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Record fall in Swiss hotel occupancy in 2020

2021-02-26

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2021-02-26

In 2020, the number of overnight stays in Swiss hotels fell by 40% to 23.7 million, a fall of 15.8 million nights compared to 2019. The fall, driven by Covid-19, is the largest fall in overnight stays in Switzerland since the end of the 1950s, according to Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office.

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Covid: new negative test requirement for entering Switzerland

2021-02-11

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2021-02-11

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.

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Covid: responding to coronavirus denial

2021-02-05

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2021-02-05

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.

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

2021-01-29

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2021-01-29

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

2021-01-18

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2021-01-18

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

2021-01-16

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2021-01-16

Oxana Medvedeva
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

2021-01-15

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2021-01-15

Petr Pohudka
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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Covid: Switzerland grants approval for second vaccine

2021-01-13

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2021-01-13

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

2021-01-11

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2021-01-11

School closed
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

2021-01-06

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2021-01-06

Laboratory confirmed cases, January 6
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

2021-01-05

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2021-01-05

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

2021-01-05

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2021-01-05

Daily New Cases in Switzerland, January 4
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: restaurants and cafés to close across French-speaking Switzerland

2020-12-23

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2020-12-23

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

2020-12-22

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2020-12-22

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

2020-12-21

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2020-12-21

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

2020-12-18

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2020-12-18

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

2020-12-17

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2020-12-17

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

2020-12-16

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2020-12-16

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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