(Bloomberg) -- Switzerland will ease Covid-19 restrictions, including an obligation to work from home and quarantine for those who have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus.

The new rules unveiled by Interior Minister Alain Berset, whose portfolio includes health care, will take effect Thursday. The government said it will consider lifting all rules, including showing Covid certificates in restaurants and wearing masks on public transport, later this month. 

Home to banks including Credit Suisse Group AG, UBS Group AG, some of the world’s top commodities trading houses as well as luxury watchmakers, Switzerland has aimed for a light touch with rules and regulations aimed at stopping the spread of the deadly disease while protecting the economy.

Read more: Europe Accelerates Move to Pandemic Exit as Risk Alert Fades 

Even as case numbers have continued to rise amid the omicron wave, hospitalizations and deaths due to the virus have been stable thanks to vaccinations and the less severe nature of the now dominant variant. 

The quarantine for people who come into contact with those who have tested positive was previously reduced to 5 days from 10 days and will now be eliminated, the government said in a statement. The requirement to work from home if possible will be turned into a recommendation, the government said. 

Swiss officials said they will now consider easing other restrictions, including mandatory Covid-passes for restaurants as well rules on large gatherings. Those could be lifted Feb. 17, they said.  

Switzerland recently began releasing data for Covid-19 deaths by vaccination status which show a wide divergence in outcomes for those who are unvaccinated compared to those who have received 2 or 3 jabs of the vaccine.

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