ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland has postponed plans to relax its COVID-19 restrictions, the government mentioned on Friday, citing an increasing number of coronavirus cases and insufficient progress on vaccinations.
Switzerland had originally planned to permit outdoor events like football matches and concerts with up audiences of up 150 from Monday but has opted for a more cautious as neighboring France and Germany also put the brakes on reopening.
“The risk of an uncontrolled increase within the number of cases is presently too nice for further openings after the number of infections has been increasing once more since the end of February,” the government mentioned on Friday.
“In addition, too few individuals have yet been vaccinated to prevent a sharp rise in hospitalizations,” it added.
The number of coronavirus cases in Switzerland and neighboring Liechtenstein has risen in recent days, hitting 1,750 on Thursday, well above the seven-day average which stood at 1,285 cases.