"The situation is difficult," Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga told reporters, as the government listed a range of measures to halt the spread of the virus after the small Alpine country saw its number of positive tests balloon to over 1,000.
Authorities are taking the following steps to slow down the spread of Covid-19:
Controls will be performed at Switzerland's borders to prevent the influx of foreigners from the most affected countries, particularly Italy. Sommaruga said that Schengen agreement allows individual members to take these restrictive measures in special situations. Exceptions will be made for Swiss citizens and permanent residents returning to Switzerland, as well as foreigners employed in Switzerland.
Ban on public and private events of more than 100 people. Up until now, only events of 1,000 participants or more were forbidden, though some cantons and cities adopted lower limits. That restriction includes sport events, fitness clubs, cinemas, and ski areas.
Cantons are urged to close schools and set up childcare facilities for students who can’t remain at home. Home Affairs minister Alain Berset said care facilities will be made available to avoid "mixing of the generations", which would imply that grandparents are caring for the children while their parents are at work. "Our priority is to protect older people who are at risk from coronavirus".
The government also acknowledged the heavy toll the outbreak was taking on the Swiss economy, and said it was prepared to release up to 10 billion Swiss francs ($10.5 billion, 9.5 billion euros) to help companies and employees to make it through the crisis.
A full eight billion Swiss francs of that amount would be made available to cover costs related to partial unemployment.
Bern also said it would help sporting organisations cover lost income from cancelled and postponed events with up to 50 million francs.
Some cantons have already announced the closing of their schools.
The Ticino government decided on Friday morning to close all compulsory schools in the canton as of Monday March 16th. Vaud and Fribourg then announced the same move.
After Ticino, cantonal authorities in Vaud and Fribourg announced on Friday the closure of all schools to fight against the coronavirus outbreak. The measure will remain in effect until the end of April.
The move in Ticino, the canton hardest hit by the outbreak, came after declaration made on Wednesday evening, which said that all 'non-compulsory' public and private schools will be closed, as will nightclubs, cinemas, gyms and ski areas.
"We have medical and financial means to combat this pandemic", Sommaruga told reporters.
Berset added that "the situation changes every day but we handle it with calm and determination, adopting our strategy depending on the evolution of Covd-19".
The government also acknowledged the heavy toll the outbreak was taking on the Swiss economy, and said it was prepared to release up to 10 billion Swiss francs ($10.5 billion, 9.5 billion euros) to help companies and employees to make it through the crisis.
A full eight billion Swiss francs of that amount would be made available to cover costs related to partial unemployment.
Bern also said it would help sporting organisations cover lost income from cancelled and postponed events with up to 50 million francs.
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