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SWITZERLAND

Drunk Swede rode 130 km/h above speed limit

A Swedish motorcycle rider stopped by Finnish police doing 233 kilometres/hour on the motorway has been held on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol and for seriously endangering the safety of road users.

“Furthermore he had no driving licence and his vehicle was not registered,” Seppo Leinonen told the Expressen daily.

The speeding Swede was caught when police in Uleåborg in northern finland spotted two motorbikes travelling way above the speed limit. When officers made attempts to stop the racing bikers they accelerated, reaching top speeds of 233 km/h – 133 km/h above the speed limit, the newspaper reported.

Finnish police finally managed to stop one of the bikers in Laanila and discovered that he was a 30-year-old Swedish male who appeared to be drunk. The man has now been held on suspicion of driving under the influence and of seriously endangering the safety of road users.

The man’s motorbike was also found to be incorrectly registered in Sweden and is thus not permitted for carriage. Furthermore the 30-year-old Swede holds no valid driving licence.

The Local reported on August 9th that a further Swede faces a massive fine after he was caught doing 290 km/hour on a Swiss motorway in his $240,000 sports car.

Finland operates a similar system to the Swiss in basing speeding fines on an individual’s salary, although there were no details available as to the 30-year-old Swede’s income status.

In 2001, Anssi Vanjoki, a senior director at Finnish telecom giant Nokia, was caught doing 75 km/h in a 50 km/h zone on his Harley Davidson in Helsinki. In accordance with the regulations, Vanjoki was fined 14 days income – equating to 116,000 euros (then $103,600), in what was believed to be the world’s largest speeding fine at the time.

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SWITZERLAND

Three scenarios: How Switzerland plans to fight a Covid resurgence

Swiss government has devised three contingency plans that could be implemented to fight a new outbreak. What are they?

Three scenarios: How Switzerland plans to fight a Covid resurgence
Authorities want to prevent overcrowded hospitals if new wave comes. Photo by Fabrice Coffrini / AFP

Although Switzerland relaxed a number of coronavirus rules from June 26th and 28th, “the pandemic is not over”, as Health Minister Alain Berset said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Berset said Switzerland should not become complacent, with last summer a warning against feeling that the battle is won. 

He added, however, that the new wave is unlikely to be as large as the previous ones due to the country’s vaccination campaign.

This situation leaves a degree of uncertainty for which the government wants to be prepared as well as possible, Berset noted.

The Federal Council established a “just-in-case” procedure on Wednesday for three possible scenarios that could take place in the autumn and winter. 

These plans focus mainly on the rapid detection of variants and the continuation of vaccination, testing, and tracing.

The best-case scenario: status quo

In this scenario, the number of cases remains at a low level, though small outbreaks are still possible.

The number of infections may increase slightly due to seasonal factors — the virus is known to spread slower in summer and faster in autumn and winter—  but does not place a significant burden on the health system.

If this happens, no measures beyond those already in place would be necessary.

READ MORE: ANALYSIS: Is Switzerland lifting its Covid-19 restrictions too quickly?

Not so good: more contaminations

In this second scenario, there is an increase in the number of cases in autumn or winter.

There may be several reasons for this, for example the large proportion of unvaccinated people, seasonal effects — people tend to stay indoors together in cold weather, and contaminations are easier — or the appearance of new, more infectious variants.

This situation could overburden the health system and require the reintroduction of certain measures, such as the obligation to wear a mask outdoors.

Booster vaccinations may also be necessary.

The worst: new virus mutations

In scenario three, one or more new variants appear, against which the vaccine or the post-recovery immunity are less effective or no longer effective.

A new wave of pandemic emerges, requiring strong intervention by the public authorities and a new vaccination.

Which of the three scenarios is most likely to happen?

The government hasn’t said, but judging by the comments of health officials, the latter two are the strongest contenders.

Firstly, because the highly contagious Delta mutation, which is spreading quickly through many countries, is expected to be dominant in Switzerland within a few weeks.

It is expected that the virus will spread mostly to those who are not vaccinated and, to a lesser degree, to people who have only had one shot of the vaccine, according to Andreas Cerny, epidemiologist at the University of Bern

READ MORE: How Switzerland plans to contain the Delta variant

Another concern is related to the appearance of the new variants which could be as or possibly even more contagious than Delta and not as responsive to the current vaccines.

The government said the best chance of avoiding the second or third scenarios is to ensure people are vaccinated. 

“Widespread vaccination of the population is crucial to relieve the burden on the healthcare system and to manage the epidemic. A possible increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the autumn will largely depend on the proportion of the population that has been vaccinated,” the government wrote in a press statement.

The government has also indicating it is preparing for booster vaccinations to take place in 2022 and are encouraging cantons to keep their vaccine infrastructures in place. 

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