Pixabay 

At the invitation of French Health Minister Olivier Véran, Federal Councillor Alain Berset yesterday participated in a virtual ministerial meeting on Covid 19 vaccination strategies. The meeting was attended, among others, by Health Ministers Roberto Speranza (Italy) and Salvador Illa (Spain), and other high-level representatives from Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium.

National vaccination strategies, vaccination recommendations, vaccination campaigns, logistical issues and timing of vaccination were discussed. Cross-border aspects were also discussed. In this context, Federal Councillor Berset presented the Swiss vaccination strategy and provided information on the current status of work in Switzerland.

In a joint final declaration, the health ministers emphasized the importance of cooperation and mutual information.

Close cooperation with neighboring countries and other European partners and between regulatory authorities will be very important in connection with vaccination strategies. Among other things, it is important to find good solutions for cross-border commuters and for other cross-border issues. Accordingly, the close exchange at the international level will be continued in the future.

Source: BAG

The signs are green for the next Safety Congress, which will again take place at Swissbau 2022. Swiss companies and installers of security systems SES and representatives of the trade fair organization met for this purpose at a joint workshop this summer. The integrated security congress is aimed primarily at security professionals, but also at architects, planners, operators, owners and investors.

Audience expected from French-speaking Switzerland

In order to increasingly invite security professionals from French-speaking Switzerland to Basel, selected modules of the congress will be simultaneously translated into French. This is also in view of the fact that Sécurité Lausanne has now been cancelled. After the French edition already had to be postponed from late fall 2020 to June 2021, a "complementary format" is being examined. This is to be evaluated after Swissbau 2022 in French-speaking Switzerland.

However, the conclusion is encouraging, according to the Swissbau press release. The exhibitors are 100 percent behind the integration of safety into Swissbau and are ready for the trade fair duo. The topic of safety is also to be accompanied during Swissbau by means of various online campaigns.

The next Swissbau will be held in Basel from Tuesday, January 18 to Friday, January 21, 2022.

Source: www.swissbau.ch

Health Director Jean-Pierre Gallati, Nicolai Lütschg, Adrian Schmitter (from left to right): Source: EPD

The canton of Aargau is the first canton to introduce e-patient files. Jean-Pierre Gallati, member of the cantonal government of Aargau, has opened Switzerland's first electronic patient dossier (EPD) at the cantonal hospital in Baden. The EPD is expected to be available to the population of Aargau during the month of January 2021, according to a statement from "Health Aargau."

Aarau Cantonal Hospital as the first EPD site

"The opening of Switzerland's first EPD is testimony to the fact that Aargau is one of the leading cantons in Switzerland when it comes to digitalization in healthcare," said Jean-Pierre Gallati.

By the end of March 2021, the EPD is to be rolled out in all acute hospitals, rehabilitation clinics and psychiatric wards in the canton. Patients themselves will determine who receives access rights to their EPD. The first location to open the EPD will be the post office in Aarau, the canton's capital. The platform behind it comes from Swiss Post.

New overview portal of EPD providers

The newly launched overview portal of certified and not yet certified EPD providers on www.patientendossier.ch/anbieter shows which other offerings in Switzerland are on the way to certification.

Source: eHealth Suisse

Source: Microsoft 

Microsoft warns in its Security Blog against a browser malware that infects common web browsers and changes the settings. The malware, called "Adrozek", nests in web browsers and manipulates the settings to such an extent that unauthorized advertising is also displayed. Most popular browsers such as Chrome, Firefox and Edge are affected.

The malware has been active since May and seems to have peaked in August. According to reports, the malware mostly nests via drive-by downloads and infects the AppData folder. Subsequently, settings of the respective browsers and DLLs can be modified. Thus, the malware can also display its own links in the search queries or show irrelevant advertisements while browsing.

Microsoft recommends that affected users reinstall the browser. By August, 30,000 devices were affected.

Source: Microsoft 365 Defender Blog

From 2021, a number of new traffic rules will apply on Swiss roads. To drive safely, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the most important new traffic rules.

Pass on the right
In traffic jams, gridlocked traffic or in the event of an accident, it is permitted to pass cars in the left lane on the right. Overtaking on the right and turning back in remains prohibited. The measure is intended to increase the capacity of busy routes and thus contribute to the liquefaction of traffic.

Rescue lanes
In order to facilitate the use of blue-light vehicles, in the future motorists must, in the event of gridlocked traffic or congestion, without being asked, give a Emergency lane in the middle of the lane. Under no circumstances may you swerve onto the emergency lane.

In tunnels, vehicles must keep as close as possible to the edge of the carriageway. On three-lane highways, users of the center lane should keep to the right and those of the left lane should keep to the left to allow emergency vehicles to pass.

In such cases, it is important to switch on the hazard warning lights early enough to prevent rear-end collisions or side collisions. TCS has been recommending this procedure for several years, as it speeds up the deployment of emergency vehicles.

In addition, the freeway is now subject to a Zipper obligation, when a lane is eliminated on the highway. Drivers should keep the vehicles on the road at all times. at the end of the departing lane. The new rule aims to prevent early lane changes and thus tailbacks.

Bicycles and motorcycles are allowed to turn right at red lights
Bicycles and motorcycles in urban traffic are now allowed to turn right at a red light if properly marked. This is not a general Permissionto turn right. But be careful: the situation is still new and unfamiliar for many. Bicycles and mopeds must always give way to other road users.

Bicyclists up to 12 years old are allowed to ride on the sidewalks
In the future, children up to 12 years of age will be allowed to ride on the right side of the sidewalk if there is no bicycle lane on their route. However, they must give way to pedestrians. The TCS has supported this measure in the interest of non-motorized traffic and the safety of children. However, the sidewalk should always at walking pace be driven on.

Lock for cyclists
In the future, the municipal authorities can mark locks for bicycles on the roadway in front of traffic signals, even if there is no bicycle lane, if local conditions permit. This allows cyclists to get in front of other road users and thus become more visible. The risk of accidents on the return journey is thus reduced.

New facilities in the speed 30 zones
In order to make non-motorized traffic safer, signals may be installed in the future in speed 30 zones. In the speed 20 and 30 km/h zones, cyclists can be given the right of way and this right of way can be marked on the ground. In these cases, the right of way that applies there will be cancelled.

New orientation markings can also be installed for pedestrian safety. For example, footprints indicating the safest crossing location. In this context, TCS reminds that in the absence of a pedestrian lane, pedestrians may cross the road anywhere in a 30 km/h zone, but they have no right of way.

Caravan trailers are allowed to drive up to 100 km/h
The maximum permitted speed on Swiss freeways for caravans with trailers or caravans (up to 3.5 tons) is increased from 80 to 100 km/h. The trailer load must not exceed the maximum weight indicated on the vehicle registration document of the towing vehicle. The trailer must also be equipped with tires approved for this speed.

Source: TCS

Picture of an affected product. (Image: pd/BFU)

According to a report from the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention. informs the bike manufacturer Cannondale about a safety problem with the bikes "Cannondale Canvas Neo 1" and "Cannondale Canvas Neo 2".

According to the safety warning, the mounting bolts that attach the front mudguard to some "Cannondale Canvas Neo 1" and "Canvas Neo 2" bicycles can loosen. This can cause the front mudguard to come loose and bring the bike to an abrupt stop upon contact with the front wheel. This poses a risk of fall and injury.

Bicycles affected by the safety issue are Cannondale Canvas Neo 1 and Cannondale Canvas Neo 2, sold between June 1, 2019 and October 2020. Consumers who own one of the affected bikes are asked to remove the front mudguard and store the mudguard and the mudguard stays for a later free reassembly to be stored.

Source: AAIB

©Deutsche Messe AG

The world's leading trade fair for fire, rescue, civil protection and safety, the Interschutz, has a new date. The fair will now take place from 20. till 25.06.2022 held.

Not only the pandemic had played a role in the postponement, as with many other trade fairs. Deutsche Messe AG also justifies the decision with the many exhibitors, among which are numerous industries that are involved in the infection worldwide.

A staging in summer 2022 is welcomed by all sides to guarantee the necessary planning security for all trade fair preparations, the statement says.

"Our highly innovative industry will have numerous exciting innovations in its program by then," Dr. Bernd Scherer, member of the Executive Board at VDMA Feuerwehrtechnik, was quoted as saying on the occasion of the new date for Interschutz in June 2022.

The next Interschutz will take place from 20 to 25 June 2022 at the Hannover Exhibition Grounds.

Pixabay

In the home office, the number has risen by 60 percent since the lockdown compared to the beginning of the year. However, despite the flexibility of SMEs, the risks of home office and digitization are underestimated by many. Although a quarter of Swiss SMEs have already been the victim of a serious cyber attack, a good two-thirds of SMEs neither conduct regular employee training on cyber security nor have a security concept in place. This is the conclusion of a study by the market research institute GFS-Zurich.

From August to October 2020, GFS-Zurich surveyed 503 CEOs of small companies (4 to 49 employees) in German-, French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland on the impact of the Corona pandemic on digitization.

Key results:

• For one-third of SMEs, home office was not an option during the lockdown due to the location-bound nature of the work, while the remaining two-thirds were able to move jobs to home office without significant problems thanks to the modern infrastructure. The number of employees working from home almost quadrupled during the lockdown, rising from 10 percent to 38 percent on average.
• With the lockdown, online conferencing tools in particular have become more important: The share of virtual meetings has more than doubled from 9 percent to 20 percent, he said. Private communication channels such as WhatsApp and other messenger services are also on the rise again.
• A quarter of Swiss SMEs was already the victim of a momentous CyberattackOf the approximately 38,250 SMEs attacked throughout Switzerland, around one third (12,930 SMEs) suffered financial damage and one in ten suffered reputational damage.
• Preventive measures, however, are too rarely taken: Despite the frequent cyberattacks only every second SME a Emergency plan for ensuring the continuation of business and around two-thirds neither conduct regular employee training nor would they have implemented a security concept in the company.

However, people are still considered a risk factor, because cyber risks are often underestimated: Only just under half (47 percent) of CEOs said they were well informed about security-related issues. Even more drastic is the lack of awareness of becoming a victim of a cyber attack themselves: Only 11 percent consider the risk of being put out of action for a day by a cyber attack to be high, as the study further concludes.

See the full JRC-Zurich final report. 

The survey was conducted on behalf of Digitalswitzerland, Mobiliar, the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), the School of Business at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) and the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW).

Source: Swiss Mobiliar

Pixabay 

The vaccine against Covid-19 is considered an important element in the fight against the pandemic. The first vaccinations are to take place in the first half of 2021, as soon as the approval from Swissmedic is available, as the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) communicates in a release. The Federal Council does not envisage any compulsory vaccination.

The amendment to the Health Care Benefits Ordinance (Krankenpflege-Leistungsverordnung, KLV) decided by the FDHA provides that vaccination will be covered by the mandatory health care insurance. According to the Epidemics Act, costs not covered by health insurance will be borne by the federal government and the cantons. The vaccination will therefore be free of charge for the population.

Specifically, health insurers cover the costs of the medical consultation and the vaccine, while the federal government covers the costs of transporting and distributing the vaccine to the cantons. The federal government also covers the costs that exceed the amount of five francs per vaccine dose. The cost to health insurers is estimated at approximately 200 to 250 million Swiss francs, while the cost to the federal government is estimated to be at least the same amount.

Source: EDI

© depositphotos, lightpoet

In particular, security systems and attentive staff should prevent more frequent theft at store checkouts. In a study conducted by the EHI Retail Institute, 85 percent of the companies surveyed said they did not notice any increased inventory discrepancies in their stores with self-checkout solutions.

Accordingly, shoplifting at self-checkout points is not significantly higher than at attended checkouts. The chain stores in Germany even recorded better inventory differences in around 40 percent of their stores with self-checkout (SCO) compared with the company average.

Thefts would be prepared already in the sales room

Random analyses at SCO checkouts and during mobile scanning also show low error rates - too much, too little, not sorted by type. Re-scans at mobile SCO solutions, which also involve random checks to determine whether individual products in the shopping cart have been correctly recorded, are also relatively rare. A low re-scan rate also indicates a low theft rate.

The ingenuity of thieving customers is nevertheless great. However, many thefts are already prepared on the sales floor, for example by inserting or relabeling goods. The most common crime in SCO and self-scanning is the "non-scanning" of items, i.e. the attempt to take products without paying.

Even barcodes of cheaper goods are not scanned, pasted over or incorrect quantity information is given. Vouchers can also lead to misuse if they are used more than once. If customers scan their goods themselves using mobile systems, item cancellations would also be a fraud method. Such methods are usually only successful if the supervisory staff fail to recognize the manipulation due to inattention or deliberate distraction.

Safety measures

Common prevention measures at SCO checkouts include visual checks by employees, weight checks, and camera surveillance, often in conjunction with exit gates. In mobile SCO solutions, random checks are used, usually by random selection. Indications are also given, for example, by unusual item constellations or an atypical shopping basket size. There are different security measures - in all of them, attentive personnel is the key to preventing shoplifting.

The entire EHI study "Shoplifting in connection with self-checkout systems" is available as a free whitepaper available.

Source: EHI Retail Institute

The epidemiological situation has changed in the last few days. further deteriorated. The number of infections is high and rising again, and the beds in the intensive care units continue to be heavily utilized. The reproduction value for the end of November is above 1; on average, therefore, 100 infected persons infect more than 100 other persons. Thus, case numbers are again increasing exponentially. In addition, the trend has also reversed in western Switzerland; the numbers are falling much less rapidly than a few days ago. The increasing cold and bad weather are likely to have accelerated the incidence of infection.

Talks with cantons with unfavorable development

The Federal Council is extremely concerned about the development. After the Federal Council meeting on December 4, the President of the Confederation and the head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs sought discussions with those cantons that show an unfavorable epidemiological development. The majority of these share the concerns of the Federal Council. They also see the situation as problematic and point out in particular that the staff in hospitals and homes is exhausted.

Further measures and consultation

Various cantons have taken or announced measures in recent days. The Federal Council wants to standardize and strengthen these. At its meeting on December 11, it will therefore decide on further measures that will apply from Saturday, December 12, until January 20, 2021. It is submitting the following proposals to the cantons in a consultation:

• Catering establishments, shopping stores and markets, recreational businesses and sports activities must close at 7 p.m. and remain closed on Sundays.
• For private events, a maximum number of 5 people from two households applies. Excluded are celebrations up to 10 people from 24 to 26 December and on 31 December.
• Public events are banned with the exception of religious celebrations as well as legislative gatherings.
• All cultural activities (including school activities) are prohibited. Events in the professional field with an audience will be prohibited, except for events broadcast online without an audience.

If the situation deteriorates further in the coming week, the Federal Council plans to adopt more far-reaching measures, such as the closure of catering establishments and stores, at its meeting on December 18.

Examine compensation for the most affected industries

The Federal Council has instructed the FDF, in cooperation with the EAER, the FDHA and the FDJP (FOJ), to examine measures for possible compensation for the sectors most affected and to submit corresponding proposals to the Federal Council by 18 December 2020. The Federal Council will hold an initial discussion on this on 11 December 2020.

Source: BAG

Within the framework of public warnings, product recalls and safety alerts, the distributors and the responsible authorities inform the public about dangerous products. The number of these safety notices has risen sharply in recent years for various reasons.

With immediate effect, safety information will now be published centrally via the "Recall Swiss" app. The app is aimed at all consumers in Switzerland and, according to the press release, aims to "take into account today's digital media use". In addition, the app offers the following functionalities, among others:

• A search function can be used to search specifically for safety information, for example to determine whether a particular product has been recalled.
• The app users also have the possibility to subscribe to an alert service (push messages).

Dangerous products are also identified as a result of reports from the public. Consumers can access the reporting system via an app. The reports are then transmitted electronically directly to the competent authority.

For consumers and companies, an "authority finder" has also been designed in the reporting system: online, consumers can find out which authority is responsible for a particular product with just a few clicks, according to the Federal Office of Consumer Affairs.

Among others, the following authorities were involved in the development of the app and the reporting system: BAG, BAV, BFE, BFK, BLV, ESTI, METAS and SECO.

The app is available at www.recallswiss.admin.ch. The application can be installed directly on a mobile device or PC via www.recallswiss.admin.ch/install. The warning service is available at www.recallswiss.admin.ch/alert.

Source: Federal Consumer Affairs Bureau