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HEALTH

Are cross-border workers spreading coronavirus between Switzerland and France?

A Lyon doctor claims that cross-border workers are partly responsible for the increase in Covid-19 infections in Haute-Savoie and Ain, the French départments that border Switzerland.

Published: 6 November 2020 13:33 CET
Updated: 8 November 2020 14:20 CET
Are cross-border workers spreading coronavirus between Switzerland and France?
French doctor claims cross-border workers are 'superspreaders''. Photo by AFP

“The movement between the Swiss cantons and  border regions likely has a direct effect on the spread of the epidemic in France,” radiologist Pierre-Jean Ternamian told 20 Minutes news portal.

Ternamian, who is the president of the health professionals union in Lyon, noted that the rate of infections in the two departments nearest to Geneva is among the highest in France. 

READ MORE: EXPLAINED: What is the latest Covid-19 situation in Switzerland?

He said the spike in numbers is caused, at least to some extent, by cross-border commuters who get infected in their Swiss workplaces and then bring the virus back to France.

As young people make up a large proportion of the regions' Covid cases, it is a sign that working-age cross-border commuters are among the most impacted population, Ternamian argues.

The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France – which contains Haute-Savoie and Ain – is under serious pressure and has had to begin transferring the sickest Covid patients out of the area as hospital intensive care units reach maximum capacity. The French health minister on Thursday night confirmed that 61 ICU patients have been transferred from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

However, health officials on the Swiss side deny this claim.

Laurent Paoliello, the spokesperson for the Geneva Department of Health, said that “there is no such thing as ‘Swiss effect’ on France”.

“Infection rates are the same on both sides of the border.”

He pointed out that Geneva and the surrounding areas of France form “one large conglomeration, with the population that is suffering from an epidemic without borders”.

Paoliello also emphasised that it is crucial to keep the border open; its closure during the first coronavirus wave in the spring was “a nightmare”, he said.

More than 125,000 workers from France are employed is the area around Lake Geneva, which encompasses the cantons of Geneva and Vaud.

They are essential to local economy, including the healthcare sector. 

At Geneva’s University Hospitals (HUG) alone, 60 percent of nurses and 9 percent of doctors are cross-border workers. 

 


 

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POLITICS

Could Geneva be first Swiss canton to grant foreign residents more voting rights?

Voters in the country’s most "international" canton Geneva will soon have their say on whether non-Swiss citizens living in their midst should have more political rights.

Published: 29 April 2024 12:19 CEST
Could Geneva be first Swiss canton to grant foreign residents more voting rights?

Foreigners are not allowed to vote on national level anywhere in Switzerland.

Though there had been attempts in the past to change this rule, the latest such move was turned down by legislators in 2022.

However, five cantons are permitting foreign residents to cast their votes in local referendums and elections: Geneva, Vaud, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, and Jura. Conditions vary from one canton to another, but in all cases a certain length of stay and a residence permit are required.

(In Zurich, a similar move was rejected in 2023).

Of the five cantons, only Neuchâtel and Jura authorise foreign residents to vote on cantonal level in addition to communal one; in the others, they can cast municipal ballots only. 

Additionally, three other cantons have similar laws on their books, but they this legislation remains mostly inactive.

Basel-City, Graubünden, and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden have authorised their communes to introduce the right to vote, the right to elect, and the right to be elected for their non-Swiss residents. 

However, only few of the communes in these cantons have actually introduced these measures.

Wait…Geneva’s foreigners already have the right to vote?

Yes, they have had this right since 2005, but only on municipal level.

However, this could change on June 9th, when Geneva residents will go to the polls to weigh in on an initiative launched by the trade unions and political left, calling for foreigners who have lived in the canton for at least eight years, to be able to vote and stand as candidates for political offices at the cantonal level.

This ‘upgrade’ to the cantonal voting rights is important, supporters argue, because it would enable foreigners to have more political impact.

“Municipal votes are quite rare, and the issues at stake are relatively limited,” the initiative committee said.

Therefore, “access to the cantonal vote will allow these same people to express their views on wider subjects that affect them on a daily basis.”

Is this  measure likely to be accepted?

No reliable forecasts exist at this point.

And while foreigners constitute nearly 40 percent of Geneva’s population — the highest proportion in Switzerland —  it will be up to Swiss citizens to decide on the outcome.

However, some members of the Geneva parliament are urging the ‘no’ vote on June 9th.

“No canton, no country, provides such generous rights to their foreigners,” the MPs from the centre parties pointed out in an interview with Tribune de Genève over the weekend.

(Neuchâtel and Jura allow voting, but not standing for election, at cantonal level).

“The only path for foreigners to obtain full political rights is through naturalisation,” the MPs added.

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