Dossier d'information COVID-19: Measures taken by the City of Geneva

While a large part of the administration’s staff is teleworking, other employees have been reassigned to priority missions. Most municipal services have also adapted their functioning in order to guarantee essential services for the community.

Guaranteeing the continued provision of essential services

For each department, the Administrative Council has confirmed the essential services to be maintained as a priority while taking specific measures to protect the staff of the municipal administration. Through its municipal authority for conducting and managing the means of intervention and support for municipal services in exceptional situations (ORCOC), the administration has introduced a structure consisting of a leadership team, 7 units managing the essential missions and 8 support units designed to ensure the continued provision of essential activities by the City of Geneva, even in the event of total confinement.

City registry office

Gradual resumption of services

In strict compliance with the health standards established by the FOPH and in light of the criteria set by the federal civil registry office, the following services are now be provided by the City of Geneva civil registry office:

• Online requests for all civil status documents;
• Declarations of recognition have been received two days per week in the registry office;
• Wedding and partnership celebrations have been held every day;
• Life certificates have been issued without appointment every day since June 15;
• Identity card orders begin to be processed every day of the week from Monday 8 June, 8.30 a.m. to 11.45 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3.45 p.m., two people at a time without appointments (queue to be expected).

The following services, however, are postponed until June 22:

• requests for identity cards;
• arrivals in or departures from the Canton of Geneva for Swiss citizens.

Full access to all services from 22 June.

Requests by e-mail or letter

For all requests for civil registry documents, users are invited to prioritise online procedures.
The following requests can be submitted by e-mail or letter by downloading and completing the ad hoc document:

• Requests with a view to getting married: complete the request and submit by e-mail to mariage.civ@ville-ge.ch or by letter
  Demande en vue du mariage (PDF - 18.7 KB)
• Requests with a view to contracting a civil partnership: complete the request and submit by e-mail to mariage.civ@ville-ge.ch or by letter
  Demande en vue de l'enregistrement d'un partenariat (PDF - 133.76 KB)
• Requests with a view to contracting a cantonal partnership: complete the request and submit by e-mail to mariage.civ@ville-ge.ch or by letter
  Demande en vue du partenariat cantonal (PDF - 412.24 KB)
• Requests with a view to obtaining citizenship: complete the request and submit by e-mail to rp.civ@ville-ge.ch or by letter
  Demande en vue de l'obtention d'un acte tiré du registre de l'état civil (PDF - 120.75 KB)
• Requests with a view to recognising a child: complete the request and submit by e-mail to naissance.civ@ville-ge.ch or by letter
  Demande en vue d'une reconnaissance en paternité (PDF - 123.77 KB)

For any additional information, please send an e-mail to etat-civil@ville-ge.ch.

From 16 March to 30 April: limited services

The civil registry office adapted its activity in order to perform all essential services and meet the needs of the federal authorities. Even at the peak of the crisis, the office therefore continued to register all births and deaths. Wedding and partnerships celebrations were held if one of the fiancés/partners was a vulnerable person, if a birth was due to take place before 31 August or if one of the fiancés/partners had a resident’s permit reaching the end of its period of validity. Urgent declarations of recognition were also accepted. Online orders of birth and death certificates were processed if the event had taken place since 1 October 2019. For any other urgent requests for documents and certificates, the public is invited to send an e-mail to: etat-civil@ville-ge.ch, justifying the urgent nature of the request.

Funeral Services

Since the start of May, the facilities of the Funerals, Cemeteries and Crematorium Service have returned to a normal level of activity. In light of the latest recommendations issued by the Federal Council, the service has once again adapted its procedures for taking charge of the deceased and accompanying families in mourning.

Organising funerals

Discussions with the members of family in mourning, limited to a maximum of two people, can once again be held in the premises located Avenue de la Concorde 20, subject to an appointment being made in advance. It is still possible to organise funerals by telephone, as was the case during the period of confinement.

Ceremonies and burials

Masks must be worn by anyone aged 12 and over in the public areas of the Saint-Georges and les Rois funeral homes, as well as in the Chapelle de l’Ange (in particular the entrance halls, ceremonial rooms and mortuaries). According to the size of the ceremonial rooms assigned, a maximum number of seats is provided allowing these to be placed at a suitable distance from one another. In the event of a larger number of people attending a service, some people may remain standing.

• Chapel A: 198 seats;
• Chapel B: 90 seats;
• Chapelle de l’Ange: 63 seats;
• Chapelle  des Rois: 70 seats.

In order to reduce the waiting time between ceremonies, families are invited to provide the speaker with the list of people they believe will be present before the ceremony begins. People attending ceremonies are asked to enter their name and telephone number on an attendance list which is kept for 14 days. On demand ceremonies can also be screened in another chapel.

The number of people present at burials held in one of the municipal cemeteries is no longer limited. Masks must be worn by any member of the public aged 12 and over attending a burial. Unfortunately, active participation at a burial is still not authorised.

Ashes and placing urns

Families can recover the ashes during the opening hours of Saint-Georges funeral centre, Monday to Friday from 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and at weekends and on public holidays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is once again possible to scatter the ashes in the Memorial Garden by appointment by calling 022 418 67 11 beforehand.

It is also now possible for urns to be placed in the Châtelaine columbarium in the presence of the family. The same is true with regard to the burial of urns at the Saint-Georges cemetery. Families are invited to make an appointment with the cemetery superintendents on 022 418 67 80.

Aware of the impact of the restrictions imposed on families in mourning due to the health constraints, and more particularly during the ceremony allowing families to bid their deceased loved ones farewell, the City offers families the opportunity to organise a remembrance ceremony once the pandemic is over. Further information will be soon sent to the families by the Funerals, Cemeteries and Crematorium Service.

Municipal police

Since 20 March 2020, the municipal police has fallen under the operational control of the State of Geneva and has supported numerous state services requesting its assistance such as the cantonal police, the veterinary consumption and affairs service (SCAV), the wildlife wardens and the trade and illegal employment police (PCTN).

Within the City of Geneva, the municipal police provides a cross-cutting service and supports different services such as the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS), the Social Service, the Undertakers, Cemeteries and Crematorium Service, the Sports Service, the Schools Service and the Logistics and Events Service. Furthermore, it meets all the ORCOC demands (municipal authority for conducting and managing the means of intervention and support for municipal services in exceptional situations) and ensures compliance with federal standards (responses to reports of groups of people or non-compliance with the federal ordinance, control of compliance with federal standards for all shops, etc.).

Schools and extra-curricular services

Reopening of schools since 11 May

The partial return to school on 11 May required major adaptations in order to comply with the protection plans designed for primary schools and after-school facilities. Premises needed to be reorganised, cleaning operations were adapted accordingly and performed more frequently and the canteen service had to be reorganised.
Finally, the school patrol schedules were extended to ensure the safety of the pupils in light of the longer opening hours.
The full return to school on 25 May required new arrangements.

From 16 March to 8 May: School closings and minimum service

Following the Federal Council’s decision to close schools, a minimum school service has been in place since 16 March for the children of healthcare staff, emergency cases and children whose parents perform state functions (prison sector, public prosecution service, cantonal police and the fire and rescue service). The service is provided for between 60 and 80 children every day throughout the city compared to 12,500 normally. 

This service includes schooling and extracurricular periods designed to guarantee a degree of continuity for children based on the model in place before the outbreak of the virus. Responsibility for organising the service falls to the Canton (Department of public education) in close collaboration with the municipalities and the Groupement intercommunal pour l'animation parascolaire. 

Some 36 school buildings out of a total of 53 have remained open, with a reduced number of staff, every school day from 6.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. for the purposes of basic cleaning, paying particular attention to points of contact. 

In principle, school canteens will remain closed until 10 May 2020. In total, 10 canteens (out of 47) have been able to welcome children thanks to the staff of the associations and the GIAP. A single production kitchen – Plantaporrêts – has remained operational. 

The school patrol continued to operate until 18 March before being placed on stand-by. 

Early childhood 

Gradual extension of the service from 27 April

From 27 April, the Canton requested that the service be extended to enrolled children of parents with no other solution. From this date, almost 400 children were welcomed.

From 11 May, all establishments were opened and the service was extended to all children enrolled.

In light of the major health constraints and supervision standards, this re-opening represented a major challenge for the different institutions. To ensure that it was implemented in the best possible conditions, the City of Geneva strongly advised families to contact the staff of the nurseries before bringing their children in order to check that they could be given appropriate care.
 

From 16 March to 27 April: Nurserie closings and minimum service

Following the Federal Council’s decision to close nurseries in Geneva, a minimum service has been in place in the city’s facilities since 16 March in order to provide care for children of healthcare staff, undertakers’ staff, emergency cases and children whose parents perform state functions (prison sector, public prosecution service, cantonal police and the fire and rescue service).

Every day, care is provided for an average of 75 children in 8 early childhood facilities, representing one facility per sector. Some 105 members of the teaching staff are called on every day to provide this service, in addition to the administrative staff. For the sake of comparison, the 78 early childhood facilities subsidised by the City of Geneva welcomed 4,800 children before the outbreak of the pandemic, either part-time or full-time, under the guidance of 1,600 professionals. 

Gradual expansion of the service

Following the announcement of the de-confinement measures by the Federal Council, the conditions for gradually re-opening the nurseries are currently being studied by a number of different stakeholders. From Monday 27 April, the nurseries subsidised by the City of Geneva will expand their minimum care service that has been in place since 16 March 2020. The City recommends that families call the facility which would normally take care of their child in order to check if there is space for him/her. A second phase is scheduled to begin on 10 May 2020. 

Social emergency solidarity hotline and information points

A telephone hotline has been available from 24 March to 12 June to answer inhabitants’ concerns relating to the social emergency during the current health crisis.
The four information points are currently closed to the public but accessible by phone (0800 44 77 00).

Street cleaning service

Answering the call to ensure that the city remains clean, the employees of the street cleaning service provide a key service for the community. The street cleaning service - service Voirie - Ville propre has taken the necessary measures to ensure the continued provision of essential operations, organising rounds in order to provide its services throughout the crisis.

As an absolute priority, refuse collection via the door-to-door service and at the ecopoints is maintained in full, with more than 50 employees responsible for carrying out the task at hand. 

The Street Cleaning Service of the City of Geneva will once again begin collecting bulky waste by appointment (free service). Members of the public can make an appointment online from Wednesday 6 May or by phone from Monday 11 May by calling 0800 22 42 22 free of charge.

Cleaning of public areas initially partially maintained with approximately 50% of the personnel working in the field, primarily focusing their efforts on emptying public bins and maintaining the ecopoints, is now carried out entirely as before the crisis.

More information on household waste disposal is available on the State of Geneva website (in French): Informations concernant l'élimination des déchets des ménages 

Digital service

As the majority of public offices are closed, numerous services provided by the municipality are now carried out in digital format. In addition to the numerous services already available online, the public can now take advantage of a number of virtual initiatives, for example those introduced on the initiative of Cité Seniors and by a number of cultural institutions, brought together under the common hashtag #CultureChezVous.