A quiet revolution took place yesterday in the small town of Moutiers. For those who don’t know Moutiers is in the canton of Bern, or was, because yesterday its citizens voted to be annexed by the canton of Jura. This is the end of a long dispute (dating back to the 60s) of Moutiers wanting to join the French speaking and culturally closer canton of Jura and turn its back on the bilingual canton of Bern. Many administrative decisions will now need to be taken before this becomes a reality but Moutiers will become the third town/village to choose to call another canton home in Switzerland.
It is quite possible that in the coming days Switzerland will reach the sad number of 10 000 people having died as a result of Covid-19. That is an excess death ratio of 30%, the highest since the Spanish Flu epidemic which took place in 1918. The incidence of Covid related death rates is at 106 per 100 000 inhabitants, higher than Germany or Austria but lower than France, Italy or Spain. 97% of people who died had a preexisting medical condition and the average age was 85 years old. Asthe majority of this part of the population has now been vaccinated, we can hope that the number of deaths will continue to drop.
Although no further anti-Covid measures demos were allowed, Friday night saw a massive fight break out in St Gallen between police and 200 youths who had met downtown for a party. As the alcohol consumption rose so did the acts of provocation and violence, leading to over CHF 10 000.- of damage to businesses in the area as well as several arrests and fines being handed out.
You can expect a beautiful sunny and warm week (up to 22° on Wednesday), right up until good Friday when a cold front will bring rain and temperatures will drop to the low teens again.
Have a lovely week!
