Many people experience the so-called “pandemic blues” and foreigners in Switzerland are no different.
In fact, their feelings are often exacerbated by the isolation from their home countries. This is evident from a new survey, carried out by Glocals expat group.
"On our social network, we perceived a feeling of frustration”, in particular concerning inability to see families, said Nir Ofek, one of the managers of Glocals.
“In this, their needs undoubtedly differ from those of the local population”.
Not surprisingly, the desire to resume travelling is the number one wish of 69 percent of respondents.
“Travel is not only linked to family contacts, but it also symbolises freedom”, Ofek said.
And there is also likely to be a rush on restaurants and bars, the survey found.
Some 43 percent of those surveyed said they will eat out the first week restaurants reopen, while 35 percent plan to do so in the first month.
Of those, 68 percent believe they will be safe there, even indoors, if social distances are maintained.
Overall, foreign respondents are not too optimistic that the pandemic will develop favourably. Sixty-three percent believe that new shutdowns will happen in the future. And 60 percent doubt that Switzerland will be able to vaccinate the majority of the adult population by the end of the summer.
Their outlook on the Swiss management of the pandemic is mixed. Only quarter of those polled rate it positively, a fifth find it poor, while more than half (52 percent) answer "so-so".
Respondents also shared some of their experiences of living in Switzerland during the pandemic.
On a personal level, vast majority (86 percent) said they have missed social contact, experienced stress (66 percent) and decline in mental (61 percent) or physical (43 percent) health.
A fifth faced concerns about professional stability.
One person said that after she lost her job, “my residence permit expired and I had to leave Switzerland where I had lived for seven years and which had become my home."
READ MORE: How do the Swiss really feel about foreigners?
What do you miss most about normal life - and what are you looking forward to the most when things return to normal. Get in touch at news@thelocal.ch.
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