Swiss government has agreed to extend financial aid
Culture sector to receive more Covid funds
The Swiss government has agreed to extend financial aid to people working in the culture sector.
Applicants,
including self-employed artists with frequently changing and limited work
contracts, will be able to receive funds for loss of earnings from March 2020.
“The Covid
restrictions have hit the culture sector with full force from the start,”
Interior Minister Alain Berset told a news conference on Wednesday.
As part of
the new rules to come into force on Thursday, conditions for receiving
emergency aid have also been eased.
There are
about 63,000 companies and around 300,000 people in the Swiss culture sector.
So far, the
Swiss governmentExternal link has spent CHF410 million ($436 million) to pay
for loss of earnings for the culture sector that was hit by restrictions
imposed over the Covid pandemic. The cantonal authorities also supported the
culture sector financially.
Theatres,
cinemas, concert halls and many other culture venues were hit hard by
restrictions as they were ordered to close temporarily because of the pandemic
No more
salary caps
Meanwhile,
it will become easier for professional sports clubs to have access to be
receive emergency funds from the state. The government said it agreed to waive
a precondition that notably football and ice-hockey clubs have to cap salaries
for their top players to be eligible for non-repayable financial assistance.
The
government also decided to earmark an additional CHF2.6 billion to pay towards
the costs of the vaccination campaign.
The funds
still have to be approved by parliament.
In another
development, members of the civil protection services can be called to support
staff in hospitals, old people’s homes and Covid testing centres. The government
extended the mandate until the end of June.
Over the
past few months, up to 1,500 members of the service were on duty every week,
according to the defence ministry.
Source:
swiss info
