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Decision day: Is the Swiss government ready to lift restrictions?

The Federal Council will announce on Wednesday afternoon whether some of the measures implemented in Switzerland in January will be eased or remain in place.

Published: 14 April 2021 10:20 CEST
Decision day: Is the Swiss government ready to lift restrictions?
Will restairsnt terraces re-open in Switzerland? Stay tuned. Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP

Switzerland on Wednesday afternoon announced it had lifted a range of coronavirus measures. Here’s what you need to know. 

The current restrictions, taken to curtail the spread of coronavirus and its new mutations, have been in effect since January 18th.

They include the closing of all restaurants, bars and coffee shops — perhaps the most contentious rule that the government had enforced.

Political and business groups have been calling on the authorities to step up the process of re-opening, arguing that the prolonged shutdown is not only bad for the economy, but also takes its toll on people’s mental health.

Will the government give in to the pressure or will it stand its ground?

Even the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) is unaware of the government’s decision.

“The Federal Council has not whispered anything into our ears,” said Virginie Masserey, the head of FOPH’s infection control section, when asked about the imminent announcement  by a journalist.

Authorities have previously said that to end the shutdown, a number of criteria has to be met: the infection positivity rate over 14 days should fall below 5 percent, occupancy of the intensive care units (ICU) by coronavirus patients should be below 25 percent, and the R-rate  — which indicates Covid’s ability to spread —must be below 1. 

Right now, only one of these benchmarks is being met: the occupation of intensive care beds is just under 23 percent.  

However, Swiss media is reporting that even though the epidemiological situation in the country is far from ideal, the Federal Council is ready to make a small, conciliatory gesture by allowing the re-opening of restaurant terraces and the limited return of spectators to cultural and sport events.

It is not known when this would happen, but probably not before April 26th, the media reported, basing this information on “well-informed sources”.

Postponing the re-opening until the end of the month would give health authorities more time to vaccinate more people, sources said.

READ MORE: EXPLAINED: How Switzerland is speeding up its vaccination programme

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COVID-19

What to know about changes to free Covid testing in Switzerland

From January 2023, people in Switzerland will generally have to pay for Covid-19 tests. Here's a look at the changes.

Published: 21 December 2022 11:05 CET
What to know about changes to free Covid testing in Switzerland

What’s happening?

The Swiss Parliament says that from January 1st 2023, the costs of Covid-19 tests will no longer be paid for by the government. 

It means that anyone who wants a Covid test will have to pay for it themselves. 

However, Covid-19 tests ordered by a doctor will be met by health insurance costs “provided the test is required to determine any further medical action,” the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) said in a statement.

“Such costs will also, however, be subject to the insurance’s deductible and copayment provisions,” said the FOPH. The test result has no influence on the reimbursement.

Why are the rules changing?

Since the early days of the pandemic, the Swiss government has been covering the cost of Covid tests – at least most of the time.

But testing is expensive – the government spent 2.1 billion francs on tests in 2021, and 1.6 billion this year up to the start of December.

“The continuation of reimbursement for tests that benefit public health would have cost around CHF 100 million in the 1st quarter of 2023, according to estimates by the FOPH, based on a 20 to 30 percent higher test volume than in the past weeks,” the FOPH says.

However, keeping tests free of charge could also lead to additional costs in other areas – such as a potentially greater burden on doctors’ practices and hospitals, the FOPH said.

What’s the reaction?

For infection specialist Jan Fehr, the end of free testing is happening at a bad time.

At the moment, it is difficult to keep track of which respiratory tract infections are having a significant burden on the health system with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and Covid all circulating at the same time, he told Swiss broadcaster SRF.

“Charging for corona tests from January will lead to even fewer people getting tested and is currently incomprehensible from an epidemiological point of view,” said Fehr.

Santésuisse, the industry association of Swiss health insurers, urged the state to take over the costs of tests again if the Covid situation worsens in future. 

What else should I know?

According to the FOPH, Covid tests are possible in the same facilities as before, such as doctors’ surgeries, pharmacies, hospitals, retirement and nursing homes, as well as in test centres.

Despite tests not being free of charge unless a doctor has ordered them, vaccinations against Covid-19 will continue to be free for people in Switzerland in 2023.

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