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Closed restaurant in Zurich: Switzerland is extending and tightening the anti-corona measures
Photo: ARND WIEGMANN / REUTERS
Switzerland has extended the corona measures and tightened them again.
As the government in Bern announced, restaurants, cultural and leisure facilities are to remain closed until the end of February in order to "drastically" reduce contacts between people.
Working from home will also be mandatory from next Monday.
Shops that do not sell everyday necessities must close, and additional restrictions apply to public gatherings.
Service providers such as hairdressers or repair shops, flower shops, building and gardening shops are not affected by the closings.
The new provisions were justified with the spread of the new virus variants, which are significantly more contagious than the previous variants, said President Guy Parmelin on Wednesday in Bern.
These new variants, which were registered for the first time in Great Britain and South Africa, are, according to the information available, 50 to 70 percent more contagious than the original ones.
Parmelin said: “Sometimes this suffering also leads to anger, it's human.
But we have to keep a cool head now. «Schools and ski areas remain largely open.
Situation in Switzerland comparable to Great Britain
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The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health reported 3,001 new infections on Wednesday.
That was 477.5 per 100,000 inhabitants within 14 days.
Health Minister Alain Berset said cases of the new virus mutation were doubling every week.
The Swiss situation can be compared with the situation in Great Britain at the beginning of December.
Without new measures, a heavy third wave threatens in February.
Switzerland started anti-corona vaccinations on December 23, using the vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer.
The use of the Moderna vaccine was also approved with immediate effect on Tuesday.
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ptz / AFP / dpa