fransknorge

They do not base them on facts actually, as they contradict studies published by their own scientists or contradicts their own statements. So much that there is the beginning of a rebellion: school students are pro-actively masking up.
https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/up...t-ar-luftburen
https://omni.se/tegnell-gar-emot-ny-...mitta/a/lEE8l3
https://www.aftonbladet.se/debatt/a/...er-inte-langre
https://www.na.se/logga-in/gymnasiek...bast-att-borja

And again, the link between COVID scepticism and far rights: a swedish expert commissioned by the government blames the second wave on immigrants:
https://www.svtplay.se/video/2739561...1-12-nov-20-00

Misco60

The Swedish government has made some uncharacteristically poor decisions with regard to covid-19, and as a result has seen one of the highest per-capita death rates in the world: 600 per million population, compared with 130 in Denmark, 66 in Finland and 54 in Norway, all of which countries are very similar to Sweden in the make-up and behaviour of their populations.

It's quite shocking to see some posters dismissing these deaths as a price worth paying for their not having to wear a face covering on holiday.

invisible

From the standpoint to keep ordinary people from flying- it definitely will be.

With minimum 2 and in case of staying more than 72 hours- 3 PCR tests to be done per person, with just tests costing in the range of $300-$650 (for 2-3 tests), combined with $700-$1000 per ticket prices in Economy - that is 3x-5x of pre-Covid era.

Plus all non-Singaporeans/PR need to obtain a permission to come back to Singapore and you can apply to that permission only once you leave. Which means you can be stuck in HK indefinitely.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Details below in the local bloggers post.

https://milelion.com/2020/11/11/full-details-of-singapore-hong-kong-air-travel-bubble-atb-flights-cost-award-space-insurance-and-more

the810

Anyone's been to Switzerland recently? It looks like another location which is more or less fearless [mod edit]. What's the overall atmosphere over there?

yvrcnx

I just arrived in Switzerland yesterday from Sweden.

We flew into Geneva via Zurich and the entire French part of CH is on somewhat of a lockdown. All restaurants, cafes etc. are closed.
I called a hotel in Lausanne in advance since we were going to stay there for a day or two and was told that while restaurants are closed, shops are open and it is allowed to walk around - with mask.

We decided to stay in Bern instead and going out last night, restaurants and cafes are open. Masks are mandatory in public spaces and we found that people do abide by these rules with the exception of a lot of young people we saw hanging around at the train station and the casino area but it was Friday night.

We will spend the last few days in Lucerne and Zurich which have similar rules where restaurants are open but mask wearing is required in public spaces if they are busy. The hotel we are staying in told me that if the road is not busy or there aren't many people around, we wouldn't need to wear a mask.

Switzerland has very few places on their risk are list since they now only put countries on the risk are list if they have higher infection rates per 100,000 than CH itself which is currently well over 1,000.

I am not sure if they will be able to keep this up but we are happy to be able to visit areas like Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Walensee etc. where we'll be spending most of our time going for walks, hiking etc. since we are not so much into cities but even the cities are not crowded right now and it is easy to stay away from crowds, except maybe on weekends if you want to go into a restaurant.

I'll report back in the next couple of days if I see any other developments and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

LondonElite

A few days ago, Geneva was Europe’s hotspot. Pretty much all offices are WFH. I hear from locals that a stricter lockdown is inevitable.

yvrcnx

I wouldn't be surprised if other cantons, besides the French speaking ones would also go into stricter lockdowns unless somehow things improve significantly.

stimpy

I can report from France that even though we are in "confinement", there are no police controls or anything. We are supposed to fill out an attestation to leave our homes, but I stopped doing that as I've never been asked to show it to anyone. The biggest crowds are at the farmers market, but everyone is masked up so no worries. Note that I am not in a big city like Paris so I don't know if it is the same situation there.

The cafe's are closed and the restaurants are take-out only, and non-essential shops are closed. Otherwise things are normal and the kids are still in school. The PM said that it will stay this way for two more weeks and then they will make another decision. That said, the hospitals are full and even if we are now coming down from a peak, I doubt the hospitals will be in great shape by December. The PM made a plea on TV to be vigilant so that we could have a nice Christmas.

the810

yvrcnx, thank you! I will appreciate update on Zurich as I always preferred the German-speaking regions so that's where I would go.

Boraxo

you must have a different definition of “good healthcare”. Affordable for sure. But I wouldn’t want to be stuck here if I got COVID or needed any major medical work.

[Off topic comments redacted]

yvrcnx

Just to add, I was in Lauterbrunnen today and while walking around, no-one was wearing masks outside as it was easy to keep a distance.
The only time I saw people wearing masks was when walking into a cafe or the gondolas and trains but outside it is normal not to wear them as long as there are not many people around.

We also spend time at the Thun Market and the Castle. People were mostly wearing masks at the market as it was quite busy but not on the walkways along the river/lake and up to the castle but again, there weren't many people there.

stimpy

I think if you do the research you will find that the quality of healthcare in Thailand is more than just an opinion. It is a well verifiable fact.

Boraxo

right up there with Stanford medical center, Cleveland clinic, Mayo. Sure thing.

nomiiiii

Life is mostly normal everywhere in the world except:
- Masks everywhere, with varying compliance depending on city/country (China has this?)
- Border restrictons (China definitely has this).
- Huge concerts/gatherings not happening (except for house parties or underground parties) // this part China/NZ etc have, which many parts of world don't have

Expat_flyer1

I been out clubbing every night this past week, almost no masks anywhere ..

Border restrictions are real though, quarantine was not fun but Im glad everyone has to go through that to get into the country