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COVID-19

Swiss football league suspended over coronavirus outbreak

Switzerland announced on Monday that it has suspended its football league until March 23rd due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Published: 2 March 2020 17:37 CET
Swiss football league suspended over coronavirus outbreak
FC Basel's supporters light flares. AFP

The Swiss football league (SFL) announced its decision to suspend the league on Monday as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country continued to rise, albeit to a relatively low number of 24.

Referring to the government's decision, the SFL said that “all 20 clubs” had “decided to suspend the championships until March 23rd.”

It also said it ruled out the option of playing matches behind closed doors for economic reasons, according to AFP.

In all, 12 out of Switzerland’s 26 cantons have declared cases of coronavirus. Grisons (Graubünden) has the most with six cases, followed by five in Geneva.

Health authorities report that all the patients are doing well.

More than 500 people in Switzerland have so far been tested for Covid-19 and over 100 are in quarantine or isolation.

Last week, the government banned public events of more than 1,000 people until March 15th when authorities will review the coronavirus situation and decide whether to lift or extend the restrictions.

Sports events, carnivals, concerts, and exhibits, including the Geneva International Motor Show, have been cancelled until March 15th at least.

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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