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HEALTH

‘Normal life is coming back’: Churches in Switzerland to open earlier than expected

Swiss places of worship will be able to reopen from May 28, the government announced Wednesday, to allow weddings, baptisms and other religious celebrations to resume.

Published: 20 May 2020 17:26 CEST

“Normal life is coming back,” Health Minister Alain Berset said after the government brought the move forward by a week.

“Mass, worship, marriages, baptisms” and other events in places of worship will all be allowed to resume, he told a press conference.

READ: Tourism despite coronavirus: Swiss can holiday in Germany, France and Austria this summer

In recent weeks, some religious services have been held behind closed doors and broadcast online or on television. In Neuchatel, mass was celebrated online and portraits of parishioners were placed in the pews.

Switzerland stopped short of imposing strict confinement in measures introduced in mid-March aimed at stopping the spread of the new coronavirus.

READ: Can I visit my second home in Switzerland?

It has been gradually lifting its restrictions since barbers, florists, family doctors and hardware stores were allowed to reopen on April 27.

The rates of infection, hospitalisation and death have flattened off in recent weeks, according to the health ministry.

Abbot Vincent Marville stands in the central aisle of the Basilica of Neuchatel.  Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

Contact tracing 

“Faith communities should be able to resume their common religious life,” the government said in a statement. “From May 28, all services and celebrations of all faiths will once again be permitted.

“The religious communities have one week to work out protection concepts and to ensure the tracing of possible chains of infection.”

Those organising religious gatherings will have to make a list of all attendees, including their name and telephone number.

If requested, they would then have to pass it on to the  authorities, to identify and inform anyone deemed at risk of being infected.

The list can be disposed of after 14 days.

The disease has infected more than 30,000 people and killed more than 1,600 in Switzerland, which has a population of around 8.5 million.

Primary schools, shops, restaurants and museums have reopened, although physical distancing and hygiene measures remain in force.

Next week, the government is due to reconsider its ban on gatherings of more than five people.

Secondary schools and universities are set to return from June 8.

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HEALTH INSURANCE

Could glasses and contact lenses soon be covered by Swiss health insurance?

The Swiss health system is ranked among the best in the world, but some essentials, like glasses, aren't automatically covered by health insurance. That could soon change, however

Published: 16 May 2024 15:06 CEST
Could glasses and contact lenses soon be covered by Swiss health insurance?

Green Party Federal Councillor Katharina Prelicz-Huber revealed in an interview with newspaper 20 Minuten this week that the Federal Parliament had tabled a motion to include prescription glasses and contact lenses in Switzerland’s mandatory health insurance scheme. 

Prelicz-Huber stated: “The purpose of compulsory health insurance is to provide the services you need to get or stay healthy,”

The motion forms part of the legislation that will be voted on during the 2024 summer session of the Federal Council. 

Proposed changes 

According to Switzerland’s peak optician body, 4 in 5 Swiss wear glasses or contact lenses at some point. 

It’s no surprise that statistics repository, Statista, projects the Swiss eyewear industry to be worth €1.37 billion by 2028. 

Currently, glasses and contact lenses are covered for up to 180 francs for children until age eighteen, if they are proscribed by a doctor.

Adults can also claim money back for glasses and contact lenses – however, they must be suffering from one of a short list of specific conditions such as keratoconus – where the cornea is distorted – or severe myopia, otherwise known as near-sightedness.

They must also have been specifically prescribed them by a doctor or optometrist. 

Otherwise, supplemental optical insurance must be purchased in Switzerland to ensure you can recoup the cost. 

Under the Green Party proposal, glasses, contact lenses, and other visual aids would be covered, regardless of age. 

Rising premiums prompt opposition 

Not everybody agrees with the proposal. 

The right-wing SVP has already spoken out against it, with Federal Councillor Diana Gutjahr arguing: “If we seriously want to slow down the burdensome and constantly rising health costs for the benefit of the population, we [must] show the political will not to constantly expand the benefits of compulsory health insurance.”

A spokesman for the the health insurance advocacy group Santesuisse, Matthias Müller, echoed Gutjahr, claiming that insurance constitutes “financing for extraordinary events such as illness.”

“If almost everyone benefits from a certain service, it is no longer an insurance benefit.”

A date for the vote has yet to be announced. 

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