Switzerland Today

Greetings from Bern,

Here are the latest news and stories from Switzerland on Monday, the day after 62% of voters backed the government’s Covid-19 policy – and the Omicron variant was detected here.

www.winteruniversiade2021.ch

In the News:  The world university winter games in Switzerland were cancelled today to help stop the spread of the new Covid-19 variant.

• Organisers of the Winter Universiade in Lucerne citedExternal link “highly dynamic developments in the pandemic and related incoming travel restrictions” for the decision. Students from more than 500 universities in at least 50 countries were scheduled to compete in 60 medal events from December 11-21 at venues across central and eastern Switzerland.
• The first probable case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 had been detected in Switzerland, the government said yesterday evening. The case relates to a person who returned to Switzerland from South Africa around a week ago, the Federal Office of Public Health said.
• In non-Covid news, the title of Chef of the Year 2022 has been awarded to Mitja Birlo, chef at the “7132 Hotel”, formerly the Therme Vals hotel and spa in southeastern Switzerland. The 36-year-old from Berlin was awarded 18 out of a possible 20 points by the gastronomic guide GaultMillauExternal link.

Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Last night 62% of the electorate backed the government’s coronavirus policy after voting on the issue for the second time this year.

In June, 60% approved the initial text of the Covid law, the legal framework for the financial and health measures taken by the government to deal with the pandemic. Five months later, an even bigger number supported a series of amendments to the law, outlining more financial aid as well as the legal basis for the hotly debated Covid certificate.

With one of the highest turnouts in decades – almost 66% – 24 of the country’s 26 cantons said Yes.

Referring to the aggressive tones and threats witnessed during the campaign, Interior Minister Alain Berset (pictured, yesterday) said democratic debates can and should be “lively”, but he added there were limits. He called for “respecting decisions taken and reuniting after a decision, even if we do not agree with it”.

Swiss newspaper commentators focused on the clarity of the result and the victory of a “silent majority” over a “strident minority”. The latter must accept the outcome, but their concerns can’t be brushed aside, the papers said.

Keystone / Urs Flueeler

In an attempt to contain the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, Switzerland has joined many countries in imposing entry restrictions. Visitors from the UK – and various other countriesExternal link – now have to go into quarantine for ten days, giving Swiss ski resorts and travel agents yet another headache.

At 6pm on Saturday the Federal Office of Public Health tweeted that the Omicron variant had been reported in the UK, the Netherland, Egypt and Malawi. As a result, it said anyone entering Switzerland from those countries would need to provide a negative Covid test and spend ten days in quarantine.

This obviously puts the kibosh on any skiing holidays, and as the news spread – I quickly informed a British friend and his family who had planned to come out in mid-December – individuals and tour operators scrambled to make alternative arrangementsExternal link. On Sunday the Guardian reported how Thomas Cook, the UK’s largest tour operator, was contacting customers with booked Swiss skiing holidays to rearrange for a different country or to shift the holiday to 2022.

The Tages-Anzeiger notedExternal link that Valais, a mountainous canton in southwestern Switzerland, relied in particular on British winter tourists. “British tabloid The Express wrote on Sunday that winter holidays were going ‘down the pan’,” it said, having flicked through various British newspapers (and a dictionary). “The Evening Standard also describes the quarantine as a de facto ban on British tourists entering the country. Switzerland has effectively locked them out by putting the UK on its quarantine list. The hopes of thousands of winter holidaymakers who wanted to hit the slopes over Christmas have thus been dashed.”

For a bit of perspective, let’s remember that more than 11,000 people in Switzerland and more than 160,000 people in Britain have died in connection with Covid-19.