Newsletter «Zurich International»

In order to make appropriate decisions, governments need detailed information. From an early stage, the health authorities in Singapore released extensive data on the spread of the novel coronavirus to the public. A developer has used these datasets to create a dashboard in order to illustrate the spread of the virus in a comprehensive manner. This tool enables a detailed breakdown of geographical and demographic information with daily updates of the situation. The dashboard has already been adapted to other country contexts.

Vilnius is breaking new ground to support the business community during the crisis. Since the end of April, the city administration has been making designated public spaces available to local restaurant and bars for additional use. In this way, hygiene concepts can be better implemented and jobs can be saved.

The pandemic not only increases the need for care but also the need for communication. In Vienna, every person who has come into contact with the virus must report their state of health on a daily basis. The city administration has therefore developed the «Home Care» app. It is intended to replace the daily telephone call in many cases with a questionnaire and thus reduce the communication effort. Furthermore, the «WienBot» provides the population with an automated solution for answering questions about the corona virus.

In order to relieve public transport and to enable compliance with the distance rules, new cycle paths have been temporarily laid out or existing routes widened in several districts of Berlin. Other cities - including Paris, Budapest, Milan and Mexico City - are following the example of the German capital. The City of Vienna, on the other hand, is offering its pedestrians more space by converting various neighbourhood streets into temporary meeting zones.