Switzerland has announced on Wednesday that the country is finally lifting almost all of its COVID-19 restrictions, as infection rates begin to subside.
The Swiss government said that mask and COVID-19 vaccination passes will no longer be required to enter shops, restaurants, cultural venues, and other commercial establishments beginning on Thursday.
Switzerland announces it will roll back almost all coronavirus restrictionshttps://t.co/YK5XwUCBzA
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“Switzerland is taking a decisive and important step towards normality,” said Ignazio Cassis, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year.
Mask mandates in workplaces and remote working recommendations will also end, as well as capacity limits on mass gatherings.
Switzerland will continue to require people who test positive to isolate, and mask restrictions will continue to be in place on public transportation and healthcare facilities.
“The epidemiological situation continues to develop positively,” the government said. “Thanks to the high level of immunity among the population, it is unlikely that the health care system will be overburdened despite the continued high level of virus circulation.”
Switzerland is currently on its fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with high daily infection numbers due to the contagious Omicron variant. However, health officials announced recently that the trend has steadily fallen.
This comes after 32 states in the U.S. have lifted health restrictions despite opposition from several prominent health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, who told CNN on Thursday that lifting mask mandates on children in school may be premature.
“It’s understandable why people want to take masks off the kids. But, right now, given the level of activity that we have, it is risky,” Fauci said.
Ironically, studies have shown that children are less likely to spread the virus and that cloth masks are ineffective at minimizing the spread of the virus.
Fauci also said recently that lifting mask mandates shouldn’t be considered at the moment.
“We want to make sure people keep their masks on. I think the idea of taking masks off, in my mind, is really not something we should even be considering,” the doctor said.
Earlier this month, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky spoke out against the states’ decisions to roll back on health restrictions, saying that “now is not the moment” to drop mask mandates despite the decreasing effect of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
