Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday
New security equipment at Zurich airport to make checks more efficient; Basel scientists find dozens of bacteria in hospitals; and more Swiss news in our roundup on Tuesday.
Zurich Airport will soon put first 3D scanners into operation
Switzerland’s largest airport is getting ready to use, within the next few months, the new 3D scanners to check carry-on baggage quicker and more efficiently.
They will take three-dimensional images of hand luggage.
Liquids and laptops will no longer have to be removed from the bags, which means queues will move through security checks more rapidly.
This technology is already being used in other countries. Zurich planned to acquire the machines several years ago, but the Covid pandemic delayed the purchase.
Geneva’s minimum salary goes up
Each year, the canton’s gross minimum wage is indexed to the cost of living.
For the year 2024, it will reach 24.32 francs per hour for most workers.
Exceptions are employees in the agriculture and floriculture sectors, who have their own minimum pay of 17.87 francs / hour.
Geneva is one of only five Swiss cantons that have introduced minimum wage. The others are Neuchâtel, Jura, Ticino, and Basel-City.
Geneva’s wage is the highest of the six.
(Zurich residents also voted to introduce a minimum hourly wage of 23.90 per hour. It was was supposed to come into effect from 2024, but now it will take longer for this measure to be implemented — if it will be at all — because this move is being challenged by employers' associations).
Basel researchers make a gruesome discovery
When you go to a hospital, you expect to find a sterile (or at least clean) environment.
It will therefore come as a shock to learn what a Basel research team has found: 35 previously unknown species of bacteria ‘living’ in hospitals.
While most of them are deemed harmless to patients, seven of these microbes can trigger infections in humans if they get into the bloodstream.
The hospitals where this discovery was made were not identified.
However, there ‘s a ‘cute’ side to this story: as anyone who discovers a new species can choose its name, the researchers have named two of the bacteria Pseudoclavibacter triregionum, with the second word meaning ‘three regions’ — based on Basel’s location on the border between Switzerland, France and Germany.
Swiss hotel named one of Europe’s most popular destinations for families
It is not always easy to find children-friendly hotels, but Märchenhotel, in the village Braunwald in canton Glarus, is one of them.
In an annual 2023 ranking by Kinderhotel.info, a platform for family hotels in Europe, Märchenhotel is in the second place of 50 European hotels surveyed.
Familienzimmer ab 580 Franken pro Nacht: Glarner Hotel schafft es aufs Podest der beliebtesten Familienhotels Europas. https://t.co/3K2PJL8Gbi
— 20 Minuten (@20min) January 8, 2024
It is the only Swiss hotel to have been included in the ranking.
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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Zurich Airport will soon put first 3D scanners into operation
Switzerland’s largest airport is getting ready to use, within the next few months, the new 3D scanners to check carry-on baggage quicker and more efficiently.
They will take three-dimensional images of hand luggage.
Liquids and laptops will no longer have to be removed from the bags, which means queues will move through security checks more rapidly.
This technology is already being used in other countries. Zurich planned to acquire the machines several years ago, but the Covid pandemic delayed the purchase.
Geneva’s minimum salary goes up
Each year, the canton’s gross minimum wage is indexed to the cost of living.
For the year 2024, it will reach 24.32 francs per hour for most workers.
Exceptions are employees in the agriculture and floriculture sectors, who have their own minimum pay of 17.87 francs / hour.
Geneva is one of only five Swiss cantons that have introduced minimum wage. The others are Neuchâtel, Jura, Ticino, and Basel-City.
Geneva’s wage is the highest of the six.
(Zurich residents also voted to introduce a minimum hourly wage of 23.90 per hour. It was was supposed to come into effect from 2024, but now it will take longer for this measure to be implemented — if it will be at all — because this move is being challenged by employers' associations).
Basel researchers make a gruesome discovery
When you go to a hospital, you expect to find a sterile (or at least clean) environment.
It will therefore come as a shock to learn what a Basel research team has found: 35 previously unknown species of bacteria ‘living’ in hospitals.
While most of them are deemed harmless to patients, seven of these microbes can trigger infections in humans if they get into the bloodstream.
The hospitals where this discovery was made were not identified.
However, there ‘s a ‘cute’ side to this story: as anyone who discovers a new species can choose its name, the researchers have named two of the bacteria Pseudoclavibacter triregionum, with the second word meaning ‘three regions’ — based on Basel’s location on the border between Switzerland, France and Germany.
Swiss hotel named one of Europe’s most popular destinations for families
It is not always easy to find children-friendly hotels, but Märchenhotel, in the village Braunwald in canton Glarus, is one of them.
In an annual 2023 ranking by Kinderhotel.info, a platform for family hotels in Europe, Märchenhotel is in the second place of 50 European hotels surveyed.
Familienzimmer ab 580 Franken pro Nacht: Glarner Hotel schafft es aufs Podest der beliebtesten Familienhotels Europas. https://t.co/3K2PJL8Gbi
— 20 Minuten (@20min) January 8, 2024
It is the only Swiss hotel to have been included in the ranking.
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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