What does Switzerland's lockdown look like? Iain Dale discovers

20 May 2020, 21:15

What does Switzerland's lockdown look like?

What does Switzerland's lockdown look like? Iain Dale discovers how the country has coped.

Switzerland shares a border with Germany, France, Austria and Italy - reporter Harriet Hadman told Iain that the southern part that borders with Italy was "very badly hit" and the virus was spreading over the border from mid-February.

"Many of the hospitals along the border are staffed by hospitals that have to commute over every single day so that's made it incredibly difficult to close those borders completely. They've had to keep those healthcare workers going across," Ms Harman said.

There has been a high rate of cases in Switzerland and the country has been "hit quite hard" - the top 10 country in the world for cases, though "way behind" the neighbouring countries.

There have been over 1,300 cases out of eight million people - fortunately there are a high number of ICU beds, good hospitals and extremely good healthcare.

Switzerland's lockdown has been described as a "luxurious lockdown"; some people were still allowed to go to work, people were not legally confined to the house, and gatherings of under 5 people were permitted.

Ms Harman told Iain Switzerland was now into its second phase of lockdown easing, and she has sat in her local coffee shop working, had a haircut and had a manicure, and many children have gone back to school.

"Switzerland seems to be getting back to some kind of normal quite quickly."