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COVID-19 RULES

Will Switzerland announce tighter measures on Wednesday?

The Federal Council will announce on Wednesday whether to implement stricter rules to rein in the spread of Omicron variant. This is what’s likely to happen.

Published: 19 January 2022 12:26 CET
Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset buttons his jacket. Image: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset will make a call on new measures on Wednesday. Image: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

Federal authorities have consulted with the cantons over the last few days about which current measures should be tightened in view of the skyrocketing number of infections caused by Omicron.

But despite some 30,000 new daily cases, the healthcare system is holding up at the moment, and most cantonal officials have spoken in favour of less stringent rules.

This is what’s likely to be announced:

Extension of measures until end of February

An important point is the extension of the measures currently in force, such as the 2G regulations and the obligation to work from home.

Health Minister Alain Berset said they should be maintained until the end of March. The majority of cantons, however, want them lifted a month earlier, on February 28th, provided the epidemiological situation allows it.  

Quarantine

Last week, the Federal Council shortened the duration of quarantine and isolation to five days.

But two-thirds of the cantons prefer to abolish the preventive quarantine for contact cases altogether, and some epidemiologists support this idea as well.

READ MORE: Should Switzerland abolish quarantines and roll back testing for Covid-19?

This is particularly pertinent as testing capabilities and contact tracing are currently severely limited due to the high number of cases.

But it may be too early to take this step, health officials say. “We still have to be very careful. We don’t know how the situation will evolve in the coming weeks”, according to Virginie Masserey, head of the infection control unit at the Federal Department of Public Health.

Certificate validity

The Federal Council is likely to announce the reduction of the validity period of the certificate for vaccinated and recovered people from 365 to 270 days.

This would allow Switzerland to align with European Union’s rules and ensure that the Swiss certificate is accepted in the EU, which is essential for travel.

Hardening

Although the Federal Council said it would order stricter measures, including closings, quickly if the hospitals and intensive care units become saturated, for the moment such drastic measures are not on the horizon”.

READ MORE: Swiss government: Omicron may be ‘beginning of the end’ of pandemic

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COVID-19 ALERT

Covid-19: European summer holidays threatened by rise of subvariants

A resurgence of Covid-19 cases in Europe, this time driven by new, fast-spreading Omicron subvariants, is once again threatening to disrupt people's summer plans.

Published: 22 June 2022 16:08 CEST
Covid-19: European summer holidays threatened by rise of subvariants

Several Western European nations have recently recorded their highest daily case numbers in months, due in part to Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5.

The increase in cases has spurred calls for increased vigilance across a continent that has relaxed most if not all coronavirus restrictions.

The first resurgence came in May in Portugal, where BA.5 propelled a wave that hit almost 30,000 cases a day at the beginning of June. That wave has since started to subside, however.

READ ALSO: KEY POINTS: German Health Ministry lays out autumn Covid plan

Italy recorded more than 62,700 cases on Tuesday, nearly doubling the number from the previous week, the health ministry said. 

Germany meanwhile reported more than 122,000 cases on Tuesday. 

France recorded over 95,000 cases on Tuesday, its highest daily number since late April, representing a 45-percent increase in just a week.

Austria this Wednesday recorded more than 10,000 for the first time since April.

READ ALSO: Italy’s transport mask rule extended to September as Covid rate rises

Cases have also surged in Britain, where there has been a seven-fold increase in Omicron reinfection, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS blamed the rise on the BA.4 and BA.5 variants, but also said Covid fell to the sixth most common cause of death in May, accounting for 3.3 percent of all deaths in England and Wales.

BA.5 ‘taking over’

Mircea Sofonea, an epidemiologist at the University of Montpellier, said Covid’s European summer wave could be explained by two factors.

READ ALSO: 11,000 new cases: Will Austria reintroduce restrictions as infection numbers rise?

One is declining immunity, because “the protection conferred by an infection or a vaccine dose decreases in time,” he told AFP.

The other came down to the new subvariants BA.4 and particularly BA.5, which are spreading more quickly because they appear to be both more contagious and better able to escape immunity.

Olivier Schwartz, head of the virus and immunity unit at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, said BA.5 was “taking over” because it is 10 percent more contagious than BA.2.

“We are faced with a continuous evolution of the virus, which encounters people who already have antibodies — because they have been previously infected or vaccinated — and then must find a selective advantage to be able to sneak in,” he said.

READ ALSO: Tourists: What to do if you test positive for Covid in France

But are the new subvariants more severe?

“Based on limited data, there is no evidence of BA.4 and BA.5 being associated with increased infection severity compared to the circulating variants BA.1 and BA.2,” the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said last week.

But rising cases can result in increasing hospitalisations and deaths, the ECDC warned.

Could masks be making a comeback over summer? (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

Alain Fischer, who coordinates France’s pandemic vaccine strategy, warned that the country’s hospitalisations had begun to rise, which would likely lead to more intensive care admissions and eventually more deaths.

However, in Germany, virologist Klaus Stohr told the ZDF channel that “nothing dramatic will happen in the intensive care units in hospitals”.

Return of the mask? 

The ECDC called on European countries to “remain vigilant” by maintaining testing and surveillance systems.

“It is expected that additional booster doses will be needed for those groups most at risk of severe disease, in anticipation of future waves,” it added.

Faced with rising cases, last week Italy’s government chose to extend a requirement to wear medical grade FFP2 masks on public transport until September 30.

“I want to continue to recommend protecting yourself by getting a second booster shot,” said Italy’s Health Minister Roberto Speranza, who recently tested positive for Covid.

READ ALSO: Spain to offer fourth Covid-19 vaccine dose to ‘entire population’

Fischer said France had “clearly insufficient vaccination rates” and that a second booster shot was needed.

Germany’s government is waiting on expert advice on June 30 to decide whether to reimpose mandatory mask-wearing rules indoors.

The chairman of the World Medical Association, German doctor Frank Ulrich Montgomery, has recommended a “toolbox” against the Covid wave that includes mask-wearing, vaccination and limiting the number of contacts.

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