The Swiss government decided on Wednesday to lift the vast majority of measures to protect against the corona virus at short notice.

From this Thursday onwards, no one in Switzerland will have to show a vaccination certificate if they want to enter a restaurant, gym or theatre.

The ban on unvaccinated people participating in private meetings with more than ten people is also lifted.

The Federal Council, as the government is called in Switzerland, has relaxed the mask requirement.

It now only applies to public transport and healthcare facilities.

If you enter a shop or a cinema, you no longer have to wear a mask over your mouth and nose.

This is no longer required in the workplace either.

John Knight

Correspondent for politics and economy in Switzerland.

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Two weeks ago, however, Health Minister Alain Berset made it clear that this does not mean that wearing masks no longer makes sense;

only this is now the responsibility of the citizens and no longer needs to be enforced by the state.

The Federal Council had already lifted the home office requirement two weeks ago;

now he has even withdrawn the recommendation to work from home if possible.

For the time being, the obligation to isolate yourself for five days in the event of a positive Covid 19 test will continue to be adhered to.

Anyone entering Switzerland from abroad no longer has to show proof of vaccination or recovery, nor a negative test result.

In addition, it is no longer necessary to fill out an entry form.

“Hospital overload unlikely”

Berset justified the easing with the positive development of the epidemiological situation.

"The pandemic has lost much of its terror," said the Social Democrat at a press conference.

Thanks to the high level of immunity in the population, it has become unlikely that the hospitals will be overloaded, and there are only a few severe courses left.

"We have taken the measures to protect society, now the responsibility falls largely back to the population and to the companies." Berset held out the prospect of the "special situation" that the Federal Council under the Swiss Epidemics Act strengthened Break through rights granted to finish end of March.

In this case, the last restrictions would also fall.

In Switzerland, the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over the past seven days is 1,687, higher than in Germany.

But as in Germany, the infections have been declining for a few days.

What is much more important, however, is that the feared overburdening of the hospitals has not materialized.

According to the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG), the intensive care units are currently 74 percent occupied.

There are Covid 19 patients in a good fifth of the beds.

In Switzerland, only 68 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated so far.

The booster rate is also comparatively low at 41 percent.

The fact that the situation is nevertheless noticeably easing has not only to do with the generally rather mild course of the disease, which can be observed in infections with the dominant omicron variant.

According to experts, a role could also play that in Switzerland almost exclusively the particularly effective mRNA vaccines from Biontech and Moderna were administered.

In addition, the vaccination rate among older people is very high.

The Swiss Covid-19 Science Task Force expects that the vast majority of people in Switzerland will have some immunity to Sars-CoV-2 by the end of this winter.

At the peak of the omicron wave, 30 to 40 percent of people in Switzerland were infected.

Even if the virus circulation increases again, a lower burden of disease in the hospitals can be expected thanks to the now overall high level of immunization compared to the time when there were no vaccines.

For people who have not been able to build up a good immune system, the risk of severe courses is similar to that at the beginning of 2020, the task force warns, which also points to the long-term effects of Covid-19, which have hardly been researched so far.

Up to 20 percent of those affected could suffer from longer-lasting health problems.