BERN (Reuters) – Switzerland on Wednesday tightened measures to deal with new versions of the COVID-19 virus spreading across the country as they stop short of the full lockout that neighboring countries have adopted the disease spread.
The wealthy Alpine country has relaxed rules for pandemic businesses to apply for state aid, which will force the government to ask parliament to support the latest 2.5 billion francs of currency. Switzerland ($ 2.82 billion) for hardship cases.
Governments across Europe have announced tighter and longer-term coronavirus locks for fear of a variant of rapid spread first discovered in Britain, with the expectation that vaccines will not help much for another two or three months.
Switzerland, which has so far taken a lighter grip on restricting business and public life, said it would close shops selling non-essential goods from Monday.
He ordered companies to instruct employees to work from home where possible, or to ask employees in workplaces with more than one person to wear masks.
He extended the limit on private gatherings to five. Schools are still open.
Concerned about putting up with cases of virus spreads, the cabinet extended the closure of restaurants, and cultural and sports venues by five weeks until the end of February, as suggested by the last week.
New COVID-19 modifications were 50% to 70% more infectious than earlier forms, he noted, raising expectations that case numbers could double each week.
“The government recognizes that the measures taken today will have a significant economic impact. We did not take this decision lightly, ”President Guy Parmelin told reporters.
Switzerland has suspended ski races down the World Cup like the Lauberhorn classic while allowing ski resorts to stay open, reflecting the warmth of lifting economic constraints.
Health authorities have reported more than 490,000 cases and 7,851 deaths since the outbreak began in February 2020.
Finance Minister Ueli Maurer said Switzerland would hold a loan to reduce the impact of the pandemic while avoiding new taxes.
($ 1 = 0.8869 Swiss francs)
Reporting by Iain Revill, John Miller, Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Michael Shields