Today is March 1st which is the meteorological beginning of spring and we are getting back a slice of “normalcy” with the easing of some restrictions in the country. To be precise as of today you can go shopping in any store, visit a zoo, public garden or theme park (!); you can do outdoor sport activities that do not contain physical contact and with no more than 15 participants (think tennis, golf, winter swimming but not football, basket ball or hockey) and you can “spontaneously” meet up with 14 of your other friends outdoors (total 15 people).
Private events at home can still only be with 5 people (kids included). Home office also remains mandatory whenever possible.
Also the restaurants in ski resorts have caved in to the government’s pressure and closed their terraces as of today.
However pressure is growing on the government to reopen restaurants (in their full capacity) and fitness centres on March 22nd. For this to happen the following criterias have to be met:
- A positive rate of less than 5% for tests.
- Fewer than 250 beds in ICU for covid patients.
- An R rate of under 1 for the past 7 days.
- The 14 day incidence on March 17th should not be higher than that of March 1st.
The next consultation with cantons is planned for March 12th and the next decision making round will be on March 19th.
March 5th will be the anniversary of the first patient to die of Covid-19 in Switzerland. At noon all the church bells will ring and there will be a one minute silence to honour all of the people who died as a consequence of the virus.
