Today in Switzerland: A round-up of the latest news on Tuesday
Find out what's going on today in Switzerland with The Local's short roundup of the news.
Cantons react to federal Covid measures
Cantonal authorities had until January 17th to respond to proposals made by the Federal Council last week to tighten certain existing coronavirus rules, including the extension of their validity until March 31st and reduction of the Covid certificate validity from 365 to 270 days, to be in line with the EU rules.
All but four cantons (Graubünden, Lucerne, Obwalden and Solothurn) want the measures to stay in place only until February 28th, at which time a decision could be made on whether to extend them further.
For the Covid certificate, Graubünden officials are the only ones against shortening its validity, while all the other cantons are in favour of this move.
The Federal Council will announce its decision on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Switzerland to cut quarantine period for vaccinated and extend current measures
Should Switzerland emulate Spain in managing the pandemic?
After Spain has proclaimed it wants to stop counting daily infection rates and instead treat Covid the same way as a seasonal flu, with selective surveillance, some Swiss experts said they support this approach.
Valérie D'Acremont, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Lausanne, believes Switzerland should follow the Spanish strategy and adopt the same monitoring system as it already has in place for counting flu cases.
She added that introduction of a simper strategy “often requires more political courage than strengthening it."
This new approach would signal the transition from a pandemic mode to an endemic one, meaning the disease is commonly found among the population and its evolution has become predictable.
Health Minister Alain Berset has recently mentioned this transition “from a pandemic to an endemic phase with high levels of immunity already reached” in Switzerland.
Verification of Covid certificates is now more secure
It has been common for waiters or other personnel to press the 'refresh' button on their customers' mobile phones to verify their Covid certificate. This action, however, was believed to facilitate data theft
This function is now corrected, with certificate verifications done only through Check, which is a separate application. In the latest update of the certificate app, it says: “The 'refresh' button has been removed” and “Verification of Covid certificates must be done through the 'Covid' app Certificate Check'".
The modification has already been automatically installed on most iPhones in Switzerland. Users with Android phones, however, still have the “Refresh” button, but their app should be updated soon.
READ MORE: Reader question: Which information do staff see when scanning my Swiss Covid certificate?
A “special coronavirus” timetable for public transport in Geneva
Geneva’s public transport system (TPG) is suffering from a recurring shortage of staff due to quarantines. Faced with this situation, the company has decided to set up a reduced ‘Covid schedule’, which will affect the tram and trolleybus networks throughout the canton.
This measure will start on January 24th and will stay in effect until February 11th.
For example, trams will run every six minutes on line 12 instead of the usual 5-minute intervals. And bus line 3 will offer fewer trips between 7 am and 9 am.
You can see which other lines will be affected here.
TPG said the timetable will be modified only slightly, guaranteeing adherence to “more than 95 percent" of its regular schedule.
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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Cantons react to federal Covid measures
Cantonal authorities had until January 17th to respond to proposals made by the Federal Council last week to tighten certain existing coronavirus rules, including the extension of their validity until March 31st and reduction of the Covid certificate validity from 365 to 270 days, to be in line with the EU rules.
All but four cantons (Graubünden, Lucerne, Obwalden and Solothurn) want the measures to stay in place only until February 28th, at which time a decision could be made on whether to extend them further.
For the Covid certificate, Graubünden officials are the only ones against shortening its validity, while all the other cantons are in favour of this move.
The Federal Council will announce its decision on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Switzerland to cut quarantine period for vaccinated and extend current measures
Should Switzerland emulate Spain in managing the pandemic?
After Spain has proclaimed it wants to stop counting daily infection rates and instead treat Covid the same way as a seasonal flu, with selective surveillance, some Swiss experts said they support this approach.
Valérie D'Acremont, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Lausanne, believes Switzerland should follow the Spanish strategy and adopt the same monitoring system as it already has in place for counting flu cases.
She added that introduction of a simper strategy “often requires more political courage than strengthening it."
This new approach would signal the transition from a pandemic mode to an endemic one, meaning the disease is commonly found among the population and its evolution has become predictable.
Health Minister Alain Berset has recently mentioned this transition “from a pandemic to an endemic phase with high levels of immunity already reached” in Switzerland.
Verification of Covid certificates is now more secure
It has been common for waiters or other personnel to press the 'refresh' button on their customers' mobile phones to verify their Covid certificate. This action, however, was believed to facilitate data theft
This function is now corrected, with certificate verifications done only through Check, which is a separate application. In the latest update of the certificate app, it says: “The 'refresh' button has been removed” and “Verification of Covid certificates must be done through the 'Covid' app Certificate Check'".
The modification has already been automatically installed on most iPhones in Switzerland. Users with Android phones, however, still have the “Refresh” button, but their app should be updated soon.
READ MORE: Reader question: Which information do staff see when scanning my Swiss Covid certificate?
A “special coronavirus” timetable for public transport in Geneva
Geneva’s public transport system (TPG) is suffering from a recurring shortage of staff due to quarantines. Faced with this situation, the company has decided to set up a reduced ‘Covid schedule’, which will affect the tram and trolleybus networks throughout the canton.
This measure will start on January 24th and will stay in effect until February 11th.
For example, trams will run every six minutes on line 12 instead of the usual 5-minute intervals. And bus line 3 will offer fewer trips between 7 am and 9 am.
You can see which other lines will be affected here.
TPG said the timetable will be modified only slightly, guaranteeing adherence to “more than 95 percent" of its regular schedule.
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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