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HEALTH

Swiss fear a ‘pandemic within a pandemic’ due to British coronavirus mutation

The new coronavirus variant discovered in Britain could become a pandemic within a pandemic, Switzerland's infection control chief said Tuesday.

Swiss fear a 'pandemic within a pandemic' due to British coronavirus mutation
Photo: INA FASSBENDER / AFP

Switzerland, where daily case numbers are at a high level, has found the mutation in 28 samples — all people who arrived from Britain, or people with whom they had been in contact.

“This new variant could behave like a new pandemic within the pandemic,” Virginie Masserey, head of the health ministry's infection control department, told journalists in the capital Bern.

“That is to say it could spread exponentially and, indeed, add a new wave to the existing wave.

READ MORE: Switzerland promises everyone will be vaccinated by summer 

“That's why it is very important to really respect the measures that are recommended, to really reduce the number of infections.” The new variant has been found in seven of the 26 Swiss cantons, including Zurich, Geneva and Bern.

“These mutant strains are now present in Switzerland and, according to scientific experts, they are much more infectious,” said Rudolf Hauri, president of the Association of Cantonal Doctors.

“Given that in Switzerland, the activity or the spread of the virus has been far too high for several weeks… we must absolutely try to delay the increased spread of this strain.”

If the new variant could not be controlled, tighter restrictions would be necessary, said Masserey.

Switzerland was the first continental western European country to start its Covid-19 vaccination campaign, doing so on December 23 with the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.

Switzerland, population 8.6 million, has received its first 233,000 vaccine doses and expects to have more than 1.5 million by the end of February.

The wealthy Alpine nation has secured around 15.8 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, in deals with manufacturers Pfizer-BionTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

It recorded nearly 4,000 new cases and nearly 100 new deaths on Tuesday, taking its totals to 463,655 positive cases and 7,335 fatalities during the pandemic.

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HEALTH

The essential Swiss websites you need to use for health matters

If you just moved to Switzerland (or even if you have lived here for a while), your learning curve about health-related matters in the country may be steep. These sites will help you find the information you need.

The essential Swiss websites you need to use for health matters

Staying healthy is probably one of your top priorities, but doing so in a foreign country is not easy.

That is why having some reliable resources that you can check out and follow will be helpful.

First: The Local

No, we are not doctors, but we have published a number of factual articles over the years about many aspects of healthcare in Switzerland that our readers find helpful.

You can find a compilation of these health-related stories here

Federal Office of Public Health 

Obviously, when it comes to matters of health, the Health Ministry has lots of information that will be relevant to you at one time or another.

Aside from matters of health policy (which is important for all residents of Switzerland), the site also has a regularly updated Infectious Diseases Dashboard to let you know what communicable illnesses are currently circulating in Switzerland — and how to avoid them.

It also provides age-specific health information and recommendations — for instance, for children and teenagers, as well as for the elderly.

Hospital websites

Individual hospitals in your area are good sources of information as well, and many of them are in English.

You can find there general health information, care and treatment options, online emergency room signup, new medical technologies being used, and other patient resources:

Geneva University Hospitals (HUG)

Vaud University Hospital (CHUV)

Zurich University Hospital

Basel University Hospital 

If you live in an area without a university medical centre, your local hospital is also a valuable source of health-related information.

Appointment booking platform

This website is especially useful for people who don’t yet have a doctor in Switzerland but need to set an appointment with one. 

It gives you an option of choosing a specialty and location, and then displays doctor’s names and addresses, background information about them, and which time slots they have available.

You can easily set up an appointment this way.

Your health insurer’s website

This may not be an intuitive choice for impartial information about healthcare but you may be surprised.

For instance, Sanitas insurance site has information about emergency care decisions, and how to void unnecessary medical treatments.

CSS has health information geared specifically to men and women.

Helsana talks about ways to combat stress and sleep problems.

These are just a few examples on what valuable tips you can find on your insurer’s website.

Websites devoted to specific medical conditions

If you seek information about a specific illness — such as treatment options in Switzerland — there are plenty of online resources for that as well.

For instance:

Heart and cardiovascular 

Diabetes 

Osteoporosis 

Mental illness 

General pain 

Other diseases 

Last but not least, while not related to health, these websites will also provide useful information for international residents:

The Swiss websites that can help you save money
 
The most useful website resources to help you get Swiss citizenship 
 
 

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