Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and John Revill

ZURICH (Reuters – Switzerland’s quarantine period will be halved to just five days in order to cope with a surge of coronavirus infection that is threatening to cripple the economy. The government announced Wednesday.

On Tuesday, health authorities approved the move. This is despite the fact that tens to thousands of people are infected daily with the Omicron virus.

Officials fear that the surge could cause chaos in the healthcare system of a country with only 2/3rds having had their jabs, and 30% who has received a booster shot.

While trying to prevent another lockdown, the government suggested that it extend until March 31st restrictions on public lives which were tightened last month. It also recommended making vaccines compulsory as a way of avoiding another lockdown.

The government released a statement saying that the epidemiological situation was critical, and it remains hard to evaluate.

Omicron appeared to be safer than Omicron. However, the government expects an increase in hospitalisations due the high incidence of infection, which increased to 32,881 on Wednesday.

From Thursday, there will be a reduction in quarantine. According to the government, this could have been because Omicron had a shorter time before infection spreads to others.

Decree introduced measures such as requiring people to show proof that they are vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to be allowed to enter indoor venues. It also made it mandatory to work remotely.

Since early 2020 when the pandemic began, national authorities reported that more than 1.5 million infections were confirmed in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The respiratory disease has claimed the lives of more than 12,000 people.

All residents of Grisons, eastern canton, required to register if they were needed to alleviate pressure at hospitals.

The regional government stated that it was possible to assume that coronavirus will cause a sharp rise in medical care or worse, the reduction of human resources for the nursing profession.