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Swiss news For Members

Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Monday

Helena Bachmann
Helena Bachmann - [email protected]
Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
Montenegrin schoolchildren wearing protective masks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), take part in a course on the first day of the new school year in Podgorica, on September 30, 2020. (Photo by Savo PRELEVIC / AFP)

Find out what's going on today in Switzerland with The Local's short roundup of the news.

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One in five Swiss schoolchildren has Covid antibodies

During the three waves of the pandemic, scientists at the University of Zurich tracked down the antibodies of some 2,500 Zurich schoolchildren.

The number of students with antibodies in the blood rose from 2 to 19 percent between the first and the third wave. “One in five children in school had been infected with Covid-19,” said Susi Kriemler, the project’s manager. Of those who were contaminated, two-thirds remained asymptomatic.

Research also shows that high schoolers are less affected by coronavirus than younger students, which could be explained by the fact that masks are compulsory in Switzerland from the age of 12.

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No progress in Swiss – EU talks

The Federal Council plans to interrupt this week the negotiations that Switzerland has been carrying out with the European Union since 2014, Swiss media reports.

The Federal Council doesn’t see any chance of the agreement being accepted by the Parliament and the Swiss public, press reports say.

The negotiations are at a standstill because Bern and Brussels can’t agree on the interpretation of the of the free movement of persons treaty and the definition of “labour law”.

Media reports indicate that he Federal Council has already drawn up a plan to prevent Switzerland from being penalised in the event of a breakdown in negotiations with the EU.

In particular, the government would unfreeze millions to continue to have access to European education programs, such as Erasmus.

READ MORE: Why freedom of movement a ‘sticking point’ in Swiss-EU talks

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Swiss hotel ranks second in worldwide survey

In its new annual listing of the world’s Best 25 Hotels, global travel platform Tripadvisor ranked The Omnia in Zermatt in second place.

The five-star hotel at the foot of the iconic Matterhorn, is perched at an altitude of 1,600 metres “on a rock surrounded by the mountains” — this is how Tripadvisor described The Omni.

“Giant stone sculptures, dense pine forests, meadows with alpine flowers and the majestic peaks of eternal ice, ready to captivate all the senses”.

Photo by Omnia Hotel

Employees in Switzerland want to continue working from home

This is a result of a survey carried out by SonntagsZeitung.

In total, 91 percent of respondents working from home want to keep doing so, while 55 percent would like to continue home work at least part time.  

Home working was made compulsory in January due to the increase in the number of coronavirus cases in Switzerland.

Under those rules, anyone who could work from home has been obligated to do so. 

But when the Federal Council announced the easing of some restrictions on May 31st, it said that, given a favourable epidemiological evolution, working from home will become a recommendation rather than a requirement.

READ MORE: What you should know about Switzerland ending the work-from-home obligation

As much snow in Swiss mountains as in the middle of winter

Even though the first day of summer is less than a month from now, there is still significant — and unusual —snow cover in the Alps.

"Thanks to the continued bad weather of recent weeks, coupled with temperatures below seasonal standards, snow accumulated on Swiss mountain peaks is not melting", according to MeteoSwiss weather service.

“Above 2,500 metres, snow layer continues to thicken”, MeteoSwiss reports.

If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]

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