Switzerland Today
Greetings from Lausanne!
Here are the latest news and stories from Switzerland on Thursday.
In the news: a new female Red Cross president, a cold snap on the way and an anti-Zemmour protest.
- Around 1,000 people protested in Geneva on Wednesday evening against a visit to the Swiss city by controversial French far-right commentator and likely presidential candidate Eric Zemmour.
- The Swiss-run International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has electedMirjana Spoljaric Egger (photo above) as its next president. She is the first woman to hold the position since the Geneva-based ICRC was founded almost 160 years ago.
- From today temperatures are expected to drop across the country as Switzerland finds itself in a “low pressure corridor”. Snow could even fall in lowland regions, according to MeteoSwissExternal link.
- The government has presented new measures to accelerate the transfer of heavy-goods transport from road to rail. Last year 860,000 lorries crossed Switzerland via motorways and roads, a third fewer than in 2000. But this is still above the target of 650,000 annual transits, and air and noise pollution caused by trucks is still too high in the Swiss Alps.
What are the Swiss worrying about?
The Covid pandemic, of course. But they are also stressed about climate change and having enough money when they retire, according to Credit Suisse’s latest annual Worry Barometer.External link
While 40% of respondents ranked the pandemic and its consequences among their five main concerns (down from 51% last year), 39% said global warming and retirement provisions were their main worries.
The state of Switzerland’s relationship with Europe (33%) and changes (in terms of costs) to healthcare and health insurance plans (25%) also featured in the top five concerns.
However, almost two-thirds of respondents assessed their economic situation positively: 65% said they were doing well or very well economically – exactly the same number as last year. When asked about the future, a clear majority were optimistic that they could at least maintain (75%) or even improve (12%) their current prosperity.
Finding a GP in French-speaking Switzerland can be extremely complicated.
The Consumer Group for French-speaking Switzerland (FRC) has carried out an investigationExternal link into the shortage of general practitioners. It found that many GP surgeries do not accept new patients – and the lack of family doctors – “the pillars of the Swiss health system” – is likely to get worse.
To better understand the problemExternal link, 20 researchers pretending to be patients contacted GP surgeries to try to make an appointment. This was extremely tedious and time-consuming, as they discovered. In Geneva or Le Locle it took on average two or three calls to get an appointment, but rose to thirteen in Yverdon-les-Bains, twenty in Martigny and thirty in Fribourg.
The shortage of GPs – and excessive number of specialists – is a well-known Swiss phenomenon. A 2016 reportExternal link by the Swiss Health Observatory (OBSAN) said there were 1.1 family doctors per 1,000 residents. The FRC survey estimates that over a third of GPs are over 60 and nearly a fifth are at retirement age. Half of them work reduced GP hours as they have other medical jobs.
The FRC is calling for new tools to help patients find available GPs. It also calls for the wider use of pharmacies to help treat ailments, the creation of joint surgeries and support to encourage young students to train to be generalists.
The organisers of traditional Christmas markets are watching nervously as Covid-19 infections continue to rise.
Traditional Christmas markets have started opening in Switzerland. Although rules differ slightly from canton to canton, most organisers have to put in place special Covid prevention measures such as requiring a Covid certificate.
Visitors to the opening weekend of the Montreux market enjoyed magnificent weather but the pandemic continues to affect businessExternal link. “The usual budget has been revised downwards, anticipating a drop in attendance of around 25 to 30%,” said director Yves Cornaro. It’s hard to find new sponsors and partners, he says.
The same message is heard in Lausanne. “We can sense that the public has a strong desire for these festivities and these moments of sharing after the cancellation of the 2020 edition,” says organiser Olivier Gallandat. Catering areas in Lausanne require the presentation of a Covid certificate, but others are freely accessible.
In German-speaking Switzerland, some Christmas markets have stricter rules. In Basel, the market is only accessible with a Covid certificate. This requires additional staff and costs, and restrictions to certain locations. In Zurich, the Christmas village at Sechseläutenplatz, which is taking place in a reduced format, also requires a Covid certificate.
Some small markets, such as the one in Martigny, canton Valais, have decided not to re-open this year, as they do not have the logistical or financial means to check Covid documents.
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