Most Swiss support coronavirus measures

Shoppers at a butcher's in Vevey, by Lake Geneva, are reminded to keep their distance Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

A majority of Swiss people questioned in a survey agreed with the measures taken by the government against Covid-19. In French-speaking Switzerland the proportion of those who disapprove of the measures is significantly higher than in the German-speaking part of the country.

Some 55% of respondents said they were very or somewhat in agreement with the measures taken by the authorities, 26% were undecided and 19% were rather or completely opposed to the measures.

Marketagent Switzerland questioned 1,004 people aged 14-74 from the German- and French-speaking parts of the country. The representative survey, published on Monday, was conducted from February 4-15, 2021.

Only a third of respondents could understand protests against the measures, while 41% said they had little or no sympathy for the demonstrators and a quarter were divided on the issue. Men (38%) showed more understanding for the protestors than women (30%).

Political differences

Opinions on the measures also depended on political views and level of education.

People who classified themselves as politically on the left were significantly more likely to be in favour of the measures (73%) than those who counted themselves in the centre (53%) or on the right (46%) of the political spectrum.

The proportion of respondents with a higher level of education who were in favour of the measures was also higher than the proportion of those with an intermediate or lower level of education (63%, 51% and 49% respectively).

There were also major differences between the language regions. In French-speaking Switzerland the proportion of those who tended to reject the measures and those who rejected them completely was higher than in German-speaking Switzerland (24% and 18% respectively). In addition, the proportion of undecided respondents was higher in German-speaking Switzerland (28%) than in French-speaking Switzerland (20%).