Swiss funnel Italian border traffic to main routes to curb epidemic

Switzerland is shuttering nine secondary border crossings with Italy and directing traffic to main routes to slow the spread of the new coronavirus while still letting workers get to their jobs, the government said on Wednesday.

Some local politicians in the Italian-speaking southern canton of Ticino have called for measures like those adopted by neighbouring Austria, which has said it will deny entry to people coming from Italy. Federal officials in Bern have been reluctant to order a shutdown, however, as more than 70,000 workers from northern Italy -- lured by higher-paying jobs in southern Switzerland's private banks, hospitals, construction sites, restaurants and factories -- keep the region's economy afloat.

"The border to Italy remains open for cross-border commuters" with work permits, said the Swiss government, whose border guards have been doing spot checks and urging travelers from Italy on non-essential trips to return home. Italy has been at the epicentre of European coronavirus infections, with 10,000 cases and more than 600 deaths, and has imposed severe travel restrictions in an attempt to curb the spread.

Switzerland, with around 650 cases and three deaths, shares a nearly 750-km (466-mile) border with Italy, stretching from the rugged western Swiss Alps to Austria. Crossings include mountain passes, heavily trafficked highways and smaller roads. Thousands of people also ride trains back and forth daily. Patrick Mathys, head of crisis management at the federal health agency, told a news conference in Bern it was possible the first wave of infections could pass by the end of May but this depended on many variables.