Newly reported COVID-19 cases in Switzerland continue to drop during Easter

Following the Easter weekend, Switzerland reported 280 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, the smallest daily increase in three weeks.

Official data from the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) shows that this is the fourth day of decline in new confirmed cases in the country.

On April 9, the reported number in the country was 785, and the following three days saw a rise of 734, 592 and 400 cases respectively, a drop compared with an average daily increase of 1,000 cases earlier.

The FOPH figures showed that as of Monday, there were a total of 25,580 COVID-19 confirmed cases in Switzerland, a country with a population of 8.5 million.

Alain Berset, head of the Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs, told local media on Monday that he was satisfied with how the population followed the government advice on reducing activities outside in the Easter holiday.

This might be a signal that Switzerland may slowly move towards easing measures of the confinement rules now in place, but the Federal Council will work on the plan with "security and stability" as its main consideration, and avoid going too fast, noted the official.

Switzerland reported its first case of COVID-19 on Feb. 25. On March 16, the country declared an "extraordinary situation" and ordered a ban on all mass gatherings as well as all non-essential businesses and cultural events.