Some Swiss cantons call for earlier restaurant re-openings
A restaurant that has been shut in Geneva
Keystone / Martial Trezzini
Several cantons have called for restaurants to be re-opened a month earlier than the official nationwide plan presented by the government earlier this week.
This content was published on
2 minutes
SRF/SWI swissinfo.ch/ilj
Português
pt
Cantões suíços pedem reabertura de restaurantes mais cedo
Canton Graubünden wants restaurants to open their terraces from March 1. The canton has done a lot to fight the pandemic with its mass testing pilot programme, its officials argue.
“In the end the government will have to give some decision-making power back to the cantons,” said Marco Cavigelli, the president of Graubünden’s government, in a report on Swiss public television SRFExternal link.
The Swiss government plans to re-open shops, museums and sports facilities in Switzerland from March 1 as part of its exit strategy from Covid-19 restrictions. Restaurants are to be allowed to open their outdoor terraces from April 1 if key indicators for infections, hospital admissions and the virus reproduction number remain within certain parameters.
The plans – which would be applicable nationwide without exception – are being submitted to the country’s 26 cantons before the government takes a final decision next week.
For and against
Canton Vaud meanwhile wants to re-open restaurants as a whole from mid-March; St Gallen wants terraces open from March 1.
But Interior Minister Alain Berset has said he is against cantons going it alone. He said that the experience of last autumn showed that “big differences in measures between the cantons leads to a distortion of competition” and to “corona tourism” in which people pop over the cantonal border to take advantage of more relaxed measures.
The head of the conference of cantonal health directors is also against earlier re-openings. “We don’t want to open businesses now just to close them again in a few weeks’ time due to the number of deaths rising again,” said Lukas Engelberger.
But on Friday the parliamentary House of Representative’s health committee also recommend that restaurants and gyms reopen in a month’s time.
The Swiss authorities have been under intense pressure from business groups to ease coronavirus restrictions, while health experts have warned not to repeat the mistakes of last year when measures were lifted too early.
On Friday the country recorded 1,021 new coronavirus infections and 62 deaths, a downwards daily trend. But infections with the new variants of the virus are on the up: the total number of cases detected so far stands at 7,320External link (6,966 on Thursday).
More
More
Coronavirus: the situation in Switzerland
This content was published on
An overview of the latest Covid-related information in the Alpine nation.
How is your country dealing with the return of stolen artifacts?
Western nations like Switzerland often have to deal with the process of recovering or returning looted artifacts which have been illegally imported. What’s the situation like in your country?
What do you think Switzerland’s Alain Berset can bring to the Council of Europe?
The former interior minister is to become the first Swiss Secretary General of the Council of Europe – which issues should his five-year term focus on?
Swiss helicopter rescue pioneers safe autopilot approach system
This content was published on
Swiss air rescue company Rega has received approval for a new kind of instrument flight system for approaching a hospital.
Algerian to face trial in Switzerland for ties to Islamic State
This content was published on
A 51-year-old Algerian man has been charged by the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office for involvement in the banned terrorist group.
Sylvain Saudan, ‘skier of the impossible’, dies aged 87
This content was published on
The Swiss father of extreme skiing pioneered descents from the Alps to the Himalayas – and became the sport’s first star.
Hayek family buys additional Swatch shares for nearly CHF11 million
This content was published on
Following the acquisition of registered shares worth over CHF20.6 million on Monday, the Hayek family made another purchase on Tuesday.
Swiss Covid restrictions to be lifted cautiously and gradually
This content was published on
The government plans to re-open shops, museums and sports facilities from March 1 as part of its exit strategy for the Covid-19 restrictions.
Calls grow louder to ease Swiss Covid-19 restrictions
This content was published on
Cantonal ministers and business associations are putting mounting pressure on the Federal Council to ease pandemic restrictions.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.