A skier in a face mask in Arosa, canton Graubünden
Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller
Canton Graubünden, home to numerous ski resorts, has announced targeted mass testing of residents as part of its measures to shore up the ski season. This is a Swiss-wide first.
The pilot project will take place December 11-13 in the regions of Maloja (tourism region), Bernina (high number of cases) and Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair. Testing will be voluntary, cantonal officials announced at a press conference on Friday.
Based on how this goes, and if needed, mass testing could be extended to the entire canton in southeast Switzerland, officials added.
“We want to massively increase testing capacity. We are doing a pilot project for Switzerland,” said cantonal government member Peter Peyer.
Ski season in jeopardy
The mountainous canton counts St Moritz, Klosters, Arosa and Davos among its resorts. Davos is also the traditional base for the World Economic Forum (although maybe not next year, it has been announced).
Cantonal authorities said the aim of mass testing is to contain the spread of the pandemic, to save the winter season, particularly for strong tourism and ski regions, and allow people to celebrate the holidays together.
Further measures include a ban on groups of more than ten meeting up both publicly and privately and closing all restaurants until December 18.
Winter sports should be possible. The cantonal government wants to “prevent the closure of ski areas with all its means”, local government head Christian Rathgeb told journalists at a media conference in the cantonal capital Chur.
Winter tourism is “key for our economic progress” so there needs to be “stricter measures for two weeks, intensified testing and intensified checks”, he added.
Europe-wide problem
Switzerland has so far said that it will keep its ski resorts open. This has put it on a collision course with some of its neighbours. France and Austria want to prevent their citizens from skiing abroad by imposing compulsory quarantines.
A further announcement from the Swiss government on ski resorts could come later on Friday.
More
More
Pressure increases on Swiss ski resorts
This content was published on
The hopes of Swiss ski resorts for foreign tourists over the Christmas holidays could soon be dashed.
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
Trump tariffs: ‘I’m a bit perplexed’, says former US ambassador to Switzerland
This content was published on
The former US ambassador to Switzerland, Edward McMullen, says he is optimistic for the Alpine country with regard to the 31% tariff on imports imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Swiss Federal Court upholds Beny Steinmetz’s bribery conviction
This content was published on
Switzerland's highest court has upheld the conviction of French-Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz for bribery of foreign public officials.
This content was published on
The Trump administration has imposed a 31% tariff on imports from Switzerland. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter has warned against "giving in to alarmism" in an interview published on Saturday,
This content was published on
Scientists have shown that bonobos combine their calls into complex sound sequences that resemble combinations of human words.
This content was published on
US parliamentarians have threatened the UN Human Rights Council with sanctions similar to those against the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This content was published on
Thanks to abundant snowfall, lift operators benefited from increased visitor numbers, with the number of guests jumping by 12% year-on-year.
French ski resort protests against Covid-19 ban with Swiss flags
This content was published on
The mayor of Châtel, a French ski resort on the Swiss border, is unhappy with the French government’s decision to close ski areas.
This content was published on
The German chancellor wants to prevent Covid-19 spreading but faces opposition from Austria. In Switzerland, many large ski areas are already opening.
This content was published on
The pandemic had already forced organisers to postpone the event from its usual January slot to a potential early summer date. But hoteliers in Davos, the alpine resort that has hosted the global conference for the past 50 years, have now received a letter casting doubt on whether WEF 2021 will take place there at…
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.