Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
More cancelled flights, Covid cases are dropping, and other Swiss news in our roundup on Wednesday.
Lufthansa strike to affect flights to and from Switzerland
A strike today by the ground crew of the German airline, a codeshare partner and parent company of SWISS, will disrupt a dozen flights leaving from and scheduled to arrive in Switzerland.
A total of 12 flights will be cancelled on the Zurich to Düsseldorf and Geneva to Frankfurt routes. Flights to Munich will also be impacted.
As Frankfurt is a major connection hub for long-haul flights, SWISS recommends rebooking for another day.
“Should you still take your flight to Frankfurt or Munich without a confirmed alternative for the onward flight, there is a risk that you will not be able to continue your journey there for several hours or days " SWISS said.
READ MORE : Airport chaos in Europe: Airlines cancel 15,000 flights in August
Covid cases are declining in Switzerland — at last
After steadily rising throughout June and July, the summer wave of Omicron and its sub-variants is slowing down, according to data from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
The number of new weekly cases peaked at more than 56,000 in mid-July but dropped to 37,738 yesterday.
The summer outbreak — if indeed it is now easing — has not reached the proportions predicted by some health experts: Tanja Stadler, the former head of the Covid-19 Task Force, said that more than 1 million people in Switzerland would catch the virus during July and August, which means over 80,000 new contaminations per week.
READ MORE : ‘Over a million people’ in Switzerland could be infected with Covid this summer
Swiss concert ordered to stop due to "cultural appropriation"
Swiss media reported on Tuesday an incident that happened recently in Bern: a local reggae group called Lauwarm was performing at the Brasserie Lorraine restaurant when customers started to complain that the musicians, all of whom are white, wore Jamaican-style dreadlocks.
Since some guests were bothered by this "cultural appropriation" — a term which means dressing up as someone from another culture, usually taken as a sign of racism — the restaurant owner cancelled the concert mid-way.
“We don't find that members of the band or white people are automatically racist, but we take seriously the comments about any form of discrimination”, the restaurant wrote on its Facebook page.
Band leader Dominik Plummettaz responded by saying that cutting the performance short “was extremely uncomfortable for us”, adding that those who didn’t like their dreadlocks could have left.
“Just because we wear Rastas, we are not racists”, he said.
This is why some Swiss trains stink of rotten eggs
A number of passengers riding Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) have complained recently about a nauseating stench which permeates some trains.
Upon investigation, the source of the rotten-egg smell has been identified as emanating from the toilets.
It seems that the toilet sanitation treatment system uses certain bacteria, which are now insufficient to cope with the increase in the number of passengers.
However, the processes are now on the right track. “SBB employees are adding many fresh bacteria” to the toilets, the company said, adding that it may nevertheless take a while before the stench disappears for good.
READ MORE: How the heatwave has impacted train travel in Switzerland
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
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Lufthansa strike to affect flights to and from Switzerland
A strike today by the ground crew of the German airline, a codeshare partner and parent company of SWISS, will disrupt a dozen flights leaving from and scheduled to arrive in Switzerland.
A total of 12 flights will be cancelled on the Zurich to Düsseldorf and Geneva to Frankfurt routes. Flights to Munich will also be impacted.
As Frankfurt is a major connection hub for long-haul flights, SWISS recommends rebooking for another day.
“Should you still take your flight to Frankfurt or Munich without a confirmed alternative for the onward flight, there is a risk that you will not be able to continue your journey there for several hours or days " SWISS said.
READ MORE : Airport chaos in Europe: Airlines cancel 15,000 flights in August
Covid cases are declining in Switzerland — at last
After steadily rising throughout June and July, the summer wave of Omicron and its sub-variants is slowing down, according to data from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
The number of new weekly cases peaked at more than 56,000 in mid-July but dropped to 37,738 yesterday.
The summer outbreak — if indeed it is now easing — has not reached the proportions predicted by some health experts: Tanja Stadler, the former head of the Covid-19 Task Force, said that more than 1 million people in Switzerland would catch the virus during July and August, which means over 80,000 new contaminations per week.
READ MORE : ‘Over a million people’ in Switzerland could be infected with Covid this summer
Swiss concert ordered to stop due to "cultural appropriation"
Swiss media reported on Tuesday an incident that happened recently in Bern: a local reggae group called Lauwarm was performing at the Brasserie Lorraine restaurant when customers started to complain that the musicians, all of whom are white, wore Jamaican-style dreadlocks.
Since some guests were bothered by this "cultural appropriation" — a term which means dressing up as someone from another culture, usually taken as a sign of racism — the restaurant owner cancelled the concert mid-way.
“We don't find that members of the band or white people are automatically racist, but we take seriously the comments about any form of discrimination”, the restaurant wrote on its Facebook page.
Band leader Dominik Plummettaz responded by saying that cutting the performance short “was extremely uncomfortable for us”, adding that those who didn’t like their dreadlocks could have left.
“Just because we wear Rastas, we are not racists”, he said.
This is why some Swiss trains stink of rotten eggs
A number of passengers riding Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) have complained recently about a nauseating stench which permeates some trains.
Upon investigation, the source of the rotten-egg smell has been identified as emanating from the toilets.
It seems that the toilet sanitation treatment system uses certain bacteria, which are now insufficient to cope with the increase in the number of passengers.
However, the processes are now on the right track. “SBB employees are adding many fresh bacteria” to the toilets, the company said, adding that it may nevertheless take a while before the stench disappears for good.
READ MORE: How the heatwave has impacted train travel in Switzerland
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
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