Federal Council tightens measures against coronavirus & supports affected industries

To create a Coronavirus transmission prevent and contain the spread, people need to keep their distance. The Federal Council has therefore decided on a series of measures. The new regulation is effective immediately and will remain in force at least until April 30. The aim is to protect older people and people with pre-existing conditions and to prevent hospitals from being overloaded as far as possible.

Public or private events with 100 or more persons are prohibited. The cantons may grant exceptions if there is an overriding public interest, such as for general meetings. In this case, various measures must be taken to protect the participants, especially those at particular risk. Events with up to 100 participants must provide for the same protective measures. This ensures uniform practice in the cantons. This measure also applies to leisure facilities such as museums, sports centers, swimming pools or ski resorts.

Restaurants, bars and discos may not accommodate more than 50 people at a time. The persons present must also be able to comply with the FOPH's recommendations on hygiene and keeping their distance.

All face-to-face events at schools, universities and training centers are also prohibited until April 4. Exams that have already been scheduled can be held if certain protective measures are taken. For elementary school, however, the cantons can provide childcare services to prevent children from being cared for by their grandparents, if possible. These belong to the particularly vulnerable population groups.

Efficient use of infrastructure
The Federal Council also wants to ensure that the Health infrastructure in all cantons is used optimally and to prevent overloading in individual cantons as far as possible. It therefore obliges the cantons to provide the Confederation with certain information on the health care situation on an ongoing basis. This reporting obligation includes, among other things, the total number and utilization of hospital beds and ventilation machines, stocks of personal protective equipment, and the availability of medical staff.

Around 10 billion for short-time compensation and emergency economic aid
The Federal Council is aware that the measures have major economic consequences. It therefore wants to help the economy quickly and unbureaucratically. The top priority is to ensure that employees continue to receive their wages. To this end, it has up to around 10 billion Swiss francs at its disposal for emergency aid from a wide range of sources. The most important key figures:

• Up to CHF 8 billion can be claimed in the unemployment insurance fund for short-time work compensation. The grace period for short-time work will be reduced to one day from now until September 30, 2020. Companies will thus only have to bear the loss of one day's work independently before they are entitled to unemployment insurance support. The Federal Council also instructs SECO to examine by March 20 an extension of the entitlement to short-time work compensation to employees with fixed-term (non-terminable) employment relationships and employees in temporary employment. Such an extension requires an amendment to the law.
• For particularly affected companies, the Federal Council is considering financial support (e.g. for liquidity bridging or financial aid) in the form of a hardship provision of up to CHF 1 billion. Under the leadership of the FDF, the modalities in this regard are to be examined by April 1 and the necessary funds applied for.
• SMEs with financial bottlenecks will have up to 580 million francs in guaranteed bank loans at their disposal with immediate effect. An additional CHF 10 million is to go to the guarantee organizations for extraordinary administrative costs. Based on the Federal Law on Financial Assistance to Guarantee Organizations for SMEs, four recognized guarantee organizations can grant guarantees of up to one million francs to companies of any size. Bank loans obtained by means of guarantees must be repaid. The Federal Council is also easing the conditions for a guarantee. By the end of 2020, it intends to cover the one-off application review costs and the companies' risk premiums for the first guarantee year for new guarantees.
• Up to 4.5 million Swiss francs can be applied for losses related to (trade fair) activities of the official export promoter S-GE.

Support for the sports and cultural sector
Organizers of sporting events and the cultural sector have been severely affected by the spread of the coronavirus and the official measures to contain it. A fund-perdue contributions of 50 million Swiss francs are to be made available to voluntary organizations in the sports sector. The prerequisite is that the umbrella organization must be able to enforce sufficient capital cover among its members in the medium term to enable them to cope with an extraordinary situation for six months. The exact criteria will be defined in an ordinance. For professional team sports, the Federal Council wants to grant interest-free, repayable loans, as access to bank loans is difficult in the sports sector. Up to 50 million Swiss francs have also been earmarked for this measure.

The Federal Council also wants to make additional funds available for the cultural sector. The FDHA is urgently preparing a temporary bill for additional economic measures that can be used in addition to other instruments to cushion cases of hardship in the cultural sector. In this way, the Federal Council wants to prevent the existence of recurring cultural events from being threatened and, in particular, to support self-employed and freelance cultural workers in emergency situations. In the course of drafting the law, it is also to be examined how the cantons, as those responsible for the cultural sector, can be included in the financing.

Measures in public transport
The Federal Council has also taken note of recommendations from the Federal Office of Public Health on public transport. Public transport is the basis for a functioning economy and an important component of our society, but it poses an increased risk of infection with the coronavirus when used intensively. To minimize this risk, the FOPH recommends avoiding the use of public transport wherever possible. Who Symptoms of respiratory disease should not use public transport, nor should people over the age of 65. Employers should arrange the working hours of their employees in such a way that they can avoid rush hours. Where possible, employees should be able to work from home. In addition, measures for the protection of personnel in means of transport should be implemented as far as possible and service on trains should be dispensed with.

Introduction of Schengen border controls
The Federal Council has decided that Schengen border controls will be reintroduced at all internal borders with immediate effect, depending on the situation. Entry from Italy is now only permitted to Swiss citizens, persons with a residence permit in Switzerland and persons who have to travel to Switzerland for professional reasons. Transit and movement of goods will also continue to be allowed. Finally, persons in a situation of absolute necessity are also allowed to enter from Italy. With this entry restriction, the Federal Council is taking measures that mirror those of the Italian government. They primarily serve to protect the Swiss population as well as to maintain the capacities in the Swiss health care system. They also support the effectiveness of the Italian regulations against the spread of the coronavirus. The Federal Council is continuously monitoring the situation and will apply the measures at the border to travelers from other countries or regions if necessary.

Text: Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH)

Regulation 2 on measures to control coronavirus (COVID-19).

Public transport recommendations

Unemployment Insurance Ordinance

More link tips from the editors:

COVID-19: Information and recommendations for the working world

FOPH Pandemic Plan: Manual for operational preparation