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SWIT

Today in Switzerland: A round-up of the latest news on Friday

Find out what's going on in Switzerland today with The Local's short round-up of the news.

Published: 9 April 2021 08:13 CEST
Today in Switzerland: A round-up of the latest news on Friday
Prices of PCR tests vary by canton. Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP

PCR costs for traveling abroad vary from canton to canton

Many countries require travellers to show negative PCR results but the price of these tests in Switzerland can be steep.

While PCRs are free for people who have coronavirus symptoms and are ordered by medical authorities to test, those who need it to travel abroad must pay for the screening themselves.  

The highest prices, according to SRF public broadcaster, which compared costs across German-speaking Switzerland, are charged in the Cantonal Hospital in Uri (217 francs), followed by the Nidwalden Cantonal Hospital (215 francs).

On the other hand, at 137 francs per test,  Luzern’s Cantonal Hospital, as well as Stadtspital Waid und Triemli in Zurich, have the lowest prices.

Ski season did not exacerbate Switzerland’s health crisis

There have been concerns that keeping Swiss ski areas open throughout the pandemic — while neighbouring nations closed theirs — would cause an increase in coronavirus cases.

However, this did not happen, according to Switzerland Tourism, which points out that Switzerland “is not worse off than countries where slopes remained shut”. 

This means the protection plans implemented in ski resorts,  including compulsory masks in queues and on chairlifts, have worked well.

Cold snap is finished – for now

Post-Easter snowfalls and sub-zero temperatures swept much of Switzerland between April 6th and 8th, bringing in a phenomenon known as  ‘winter in April’ for the first time since 2017.

Now the high current from the west is bringing warm winds and progressively milder air this weekend. However, this improvement will be brief, as another ‘polar attack’ will strike the country early next week, according to MeteoSwiss.

READ MORE: ‘Winter in April’: Temperatures set to drop as cold front sweeps across Switzerland

Zurich has Europe’s highest number of foreign-born entrepreneurs

Switzerland’s largest city ranks among the most attractive locations in Europe in which to found a start-up, according to the new Startup Heatmap Europe Report 2021.

While Zurich ranks 8th overall out of 50 cities, it is in the first place in terms of the number of foreign-born founders — 76 percent of the canton’s companies were created by entrepreneurs born outside of Switzerland, as compared to the European average of 27 percent, the study reports.

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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DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A round-up of the latest news on Monday

Find out what's going on in Denmark today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.

Published: 7 June 2021 09:55 CEST
Today in Denmark: A round-up of the latest news on Monday
Sunny weather is expected all week this week. Photo: Niclas Jessen/Visit Denmark

Denmark’s former PM names new party Moderaterne 

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark’s former prime minister, announced on Saturday that his new centre party would be called Moderaterne, the same name as the leading centre-right party in Sweden. 

In a speech held to mark Denmark’s Constitution Day on Saturday, Rasmussen said the new party would attempt to unite Danes with a variety of different backgrounds and political viewpoints. 

“Some prefer mackerel, and others prefer salmon. Some have long Danish pedigrees, others have only recently chosen to live in Denmark,” he said.

What they all have in common, he said, is their love for Denmark, which is “among the best countries in the world”. 

“How do we drive it forward? We are trying to find an answer to that. How do we pass it on to our children in better condition than we received it?” 

Rasmussen said the party would not launch fully until after November’s local elections, but was ready to contest a parliamentary election if the ruling Social Democrats decided to call an early vote, something he said he did not expect to happen. 

Sweden’s state epidemiologist warns Swedes to be careful in “high-infection” Denmark 

After the per capita number of new coronavirus infections in Denmark in recent days overtaking that of Sweden, Sweden’s state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell has advised Swedes visiting their Nordic neighbour to be careful to maintain social distancing. 

“You need to keep [the infection rate] in mind if you go there, so that you really take with you the advice you have in Sweden to keep your distance, not stay with lots of other people, and not have the close contact that involves a risk,” he told the Expressen newspaper. 

He said Denmark’s higher infection rate was an obvious consequence of the country’s more rapid lifting of restrictions. 

“They chose to open up society relatively quickly even though they knew that there was a certain risk that the spread of infection would increase,” he said. “Because they had vaccinated the elderly and did not see that it would be that dangerous with a certain increased spread of infection.” 

Nils Strandberg Pedersen, former director for Denmark’s SSI infectious diseases agency called Tegnell’s comments “comical”. 

“It’s comical. It’s Swedish spin,” he told the BT tabloid. “Denmark has registered more infections because we test so much more than the Swedes. It’s not the same as having more people infected in the population.” 

More immigrants to Denmark are getting an education 

The education gap between first and second-generation immigrants to Denmark and people of Danish origin has fallen over the last decade, according to a story published in Politiken based on new figures from Denmark’s immigration ministry. 

An impressive 72 percent of 20 to 24-year-old first and second-generation female immigrants now completing further education of university education, compared to 58 percent in 2010.

Denmark records further 853 cases of coronavirus 

A further 853 people were diagnosed with coronavirus in the 24 hours running up to 2pm on Sunday, a rise on Saturday when 592 cases were detected, but still within the range of 600 to 1350 a day within which Denmark has been fluctuating since the start of May. 

Thorkild Sørensen, professor emeritus of epidemiology at the University of Copenhagen, told Ritzau that the sunny summer weather was allowing people to meet outside, and vaccinations were having an impact, allowing Denmark to open up without a surge in infections.

On Sunday morning, 138 people were being treated for coronavirus in Denmark’s hospitals, up four from Saturday, or whom 29 were in intensive care. 

Some 40.4 percent of the population has now received at least one dose of vaccine and 23.2 percent have received both doses. 

Sunny summer weather expected in Denmark this week 

Denmark is expected to have warm sunny weather with temperatures of 18C to 23C, with blue skies and little rain, Danish Meteorological Institute said on Monday. 

“This week looks really nice and summery, and it will be mostly dry weather most of the time,” Anja Bodholdt, a meteorologist at the institute told Ritzau on Monday.  “The only exception is Monday, when people in Jutland and Funen might wake up to scattered showers that move east during the day.” 

Danish property market show signs of cooling 

The number of houses being put on the market fell again in May, according to new figures released from Home, one of Denmark’s largest online estate agents. 

According to Bjørn Tangaa Sillemann, an analyst at Danske Bank, the figures suggest that momentum is seeping out of what has been a “scorching” market over the last year, although he said it was unlikely prices would actually fall. 
 
“Although demand seems to be declining, it is still high, and when interest declines, it can also make it less attractive to put your home up for sale than it has been recently,” he said.
 
At Home, 5.1 percent fewer houses were put on the market in May, while the number of apartments put on the market fell 9 percent, and the number of sales fell by 2.1 and 5.7 percent respectively.
 
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