Much later than the neighboring countries Germany and Austria, Switzerland is now tightening its measures in the fight against the corona pandemic.

Anyone who wants to get access to restaurants, museums, cinemas and indoor events must in future be vaccinated or recovered (2 G).

So far, the 3-G rule still applies.

A maximum of ten people can attend private indoor meetings if someone is present who has not been vaccinated or has recovered.

In future, home office will also be mandatory again.

The obligation to test when entering Switzerland, however, will be relaxed.

In addition to PCR tests, rapid antigen tests that are no older than 24 hours will also be accepted from now on.

Vaccinated and recovered people do not need to be tested a second time in the days after entry.

Swiss "booster disgrace"

Johannes Ritter

Correspondent for politics and business in Switzerland.

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The government in Bern decided on Friday. This was preceded by consultations with the cantons. The majority of them spoke out against even stricter restrictions, which the Federal Council had put up for discussion. From the point of view of many epidemiologists, the measures that have now been decided do not go far enough. After all, the seven-day incidence in Switzerland is more than twice as high as in Germany and three times as high as in Austria. On Friday the value was 734 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week. Germany has classified Switzerland as a high-risk area since the beginning of December. The infection rate is particularly strong in rural German-speaking cantons such as Obwalden, Schwyz and Appenzell Ausserrhoden, where many vaccine skeptics live.On average for the entire country, the quota of fully vaccinated residents is a good 66 percent. This makes Switzerland one of the worst performers in Western Europe. It is also behind Germany and Austria (69 percent each) and far behind Italy (74).

The Swiss Confederation also lags far behind when it comes to booster vaccinations, with a rate of just 14.5 percent. While boosting started in September in other places, it only really started a few weeks ago in Switzerland. The licensing authority Swissmedic also contributed to the “booster embarrassment” (NZZ), which approved the substance for the third vaccination far too late. In addition, for a long time the Federal Commission on Vaccination did not see any benefit in booster vaccinations for the general public. This contributed to the fact that many cantons, despite repeated warnings from science, slid unprepared into the next wave. Now it is taking its toll that vaccination centers were closed at the beginning of autumn. In their need, individual cantons have even called on the army to help them get ahead with the booster vaccinations.

The intensive care units are already being utilized to an average of more than 80 percent due to the - mostly unvaccinated - Covid patients. This is the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic, although fewer wards can be operated today than in 2020 due to a lack of staff. More and more hospitals are sounding the alarm because they are postponing important operations due to the lack of space in the intensive care units or having to relocate intensive care patients to other hospitals. According to the scientific Covid-19 Task Force, the usual quality of treatment can no longer be maintained with the number of corona patients now reached in the intensive care units. As a result, there is an implicit triage. That would mean, for example, that sick people would have to stay in old people's homes instead of being taken to hospital.