According to the health minister, Alain Berset, we should not expect any further lifting of restrictions until end of May. We are currently in the “Schutzphase” – protection phase – which is due to last until end of May when all the “at risk” citizens will have received at least one vaccination.
The new indicators that could trigger restrictions between now and end of May would be:
- more than 450 cases per 100 000 people.
- an R Rate of over 1.15
- more than 300 intensive care beds taken by Covid patients nationwide.
- more than an average of 120 new hospital admittances over 7 days.
The next phase will be the stabilising phase and should last until end of July, by which time all adults wishing to do so will have received at least one dose of vaccine.
Finally the normalising phase should come into effect when the whole adult population who wishes to will have been fully vaccinated. This would lead to a total reopening of the economy and a gradual end to all social distancing restrictions.
What may come in place though, will be a Covid pass showing if someone has been either vaccinated or has tested negative. This could be used to allow people to attend concerts, cultural events, travel etc…
All of this depends on how the pandemic evolves although Mr Berset has said that the government expects that the third wave will have more daily cases than in the second wave (which would mean more than 12 000 cases a day) before numbers go down in August again.
Onto another totally different topic: This week is Fashion Revolution week, an event looking into sustainability in the fashion industry. Saturday there will be a Fair Trade Trail event in Lucerne where you can visit 18 shops offering faire trade clothes and products. You can find out more here.
