Goood moooooorning Lucerne!!!! It’s been 6 weeks since I wrote the last Znüni News for you and loads has since happened.
Let’s begin with the weather; as you know there was LOTS of rain in July and this led to floodings, lands slides and damage. There hasn’t been this much rain recorded since records began in 1864. As a result the Sempachersee remains an area to go to with caution. The ground around the lake is very wet meaning that trees are being uprooted and risk falling at any moment. If you do go for a walk there be very careful.
Lucerne made the national headlines by announcing that it intends to be carbon neutral by 2040, that is 10 years earlier than the rest of the country. Currently each Luzerner produces 5.1 tonnes of CO2, in order to reach the zero emissions goal, several rules and initiatives are being put into place: Banning petrol and diesel cars, switching to more eco friendly heating systems, lowering the energy consumption from 4000 to 2000 watts per person and fewer parking spots downtown to name a few. The town plans to spend 139 million francs on making these changes by 2030. The local parliament and voters will have a chance to weigh in on these decisions in the coming months.
When we left in July the number of Covid cases in Switzerland were averaging 120, now they are averaging nearly 2500 daily cases. Intensive care wards in Lucerne and Schwyz are now full and patients with severe Covid symptoms are now being sent to other hospitals. According to the government they are monitoring the situation closely and will decide whether new restrictions will need to be put into place again in the coming weeks.
Despite this, the government declared that it was time to enter the “normalisation” phase of their “dealing with the virus” plan. However this hasn’t meant any more restrictions being lifted, instead they announced that anyone wanting to be tested without symptoms as of October 1st will have to pay for the test themselves. This has led to more people getting vaccinated, which has never been easier. Pop up vaccination centres being opened in shopping malls amongst others. Children aged 12 and up can also now be vaccinated.
It’s back to school today for kids going to local schools. As before the summer holidays masks are not necessary for children nor teachers, but anyone visiting the school is required to wear a mask. Voluntary weekly covid tests continue to be offered.
Finally the LiLi Centre reopened its doors last week and we are happy to welcome you there daily from 9 to 13.00. Tuesdays and Thursdays, our vegan Chef Fred offers you his yummy dishes at lunchtime, Wednesdays is back to Bring-Your-Own BBQ (or order all beef burgers) and on Fridays you can enjoy Syrian specialities for lunch. Unfortunately due to the rising numbers of cases we have decided to postpone our 5th year celebration until October 30.
