Switzerland to Scrap Work-From-Home Requirement and Ease Other Covid Rules

(Bloomberg) -- Switzerland will consider lifting almost all pandemic-related rules, including showing Covid certificates in restaurants and wearing masks on public transport, later this month.

The country will scrap a working-from-home requirement, turning it into a recommendation, as well as end quarantine for those who have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus, from Thursday.

“Today is a great day,” Swiss President Ignazio Cassis said. “This beautiful day marks the beginning of a new stage in this long and difficult crisis. Of course, this does not mean that the pandemic is over, but we see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Home to banks including Credit Suisse Group AG, UBS Group AG, some of the world's top commodities trading houses as well as luxury watchmakers, Switzerland has aimed for a light touch with rules and regulations aimed at stopping the spread of the deadly disease while protecting the economy.

Officials will now consider two options:

Ending all restrictions, including mandatory Covid-passes for restaurants and masks on public transport, in one go on Feb 17. Protection plans for large scale events would remain.
Or a two step approach, where some measures are eased Feb. 17 and others at a later stage.

Politicians in Europe are facing pressures from a pandemic-weary public who are deeming many public-health measures increasingly unnecessary. The Swiss are now set to join Denmark, Ireland and France in easing the bulk of restrictions on public life. Norway also relaxed most rules.

At the same time, public health officials, including the World Health Organization, have warned governments against lifting measures too soon amid the omicron variant surge.

Even as case numbers in Switzerland have continued to rise, hospitalizations and deaths due to the virus have been stable thanks to vaccinations and the less severe nature of the now dominant variant.

Switzerland recently began releasing data for Covid-19 deaths by vaccination status which show a wide divergence in outcomes for those who are unvaccinated compared to those who have received 2 or 3 jabs of the vaccine.