Is anti-lockdown Switzerland becoming the new Sweden?

Covid cases are skyrocketing but federalist politics, an aversion to big government and even snobbishness prevent Switzerland from adopting stricter pandemic measures, reports Portia Crowe in Zurich

Passengers wearing protective masks wait to board the Jungfraujoch train in the ski resort of Grindelwald, Switzerland (Reuters)

When it comes to the Swiss government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis, Jennifer Kohler is not quite sure what to think.

“I spoke to someone who works for an old people’s home and she told me horror stories,” said the Canton Zurich resident, who works in a dentist's office.  

For her, the second wave of the pandemic feels closer to home than the first – she regularly hears of people who have been infected. But she also knows restaurant and bar owners who are struggling, and is not keen on another lockdown.