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Switzerland to update Covid risk country list: reports

Helena Bachmann
Helena Bachmann - [email protected]
Switzerland to update Covid risk country list: reports
Travel to Switzerland may become more restricted. Photo by Zurich Airport.

Swiss authorities are about to update their list of nations and regions with a high incidence of Covid infections, which could lead to tighter travel rules.

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The list, published by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), indicates from which countries tourists are allowed to enter Switzerland.

It is based on the epidemiological situation of a particular region.

Right now, only residents from these areas are authorised to come to Switzerland, but only under certain conditions — they must have documents to prove they are fully vaccinated, recovered from Covid, or tested negative for the virus.

Unvaccinated people arriving from ‘high-variant’ areas like the UK, India and Nepal, must also quarantine.

UPDATED: Who can travel to Switzerland right now?

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However, according to Swiss news outlet Watson, SEM will release an updated list of countries soon, possibly on July 30th.

“This update is necessary in view of the epidemiological developments in the various countries”, Watson reported.

It is not known what countries will be added to SEM’s high-risk list, but they will most likely be the ones where the rate of infections is soaring due the highly contagious Delta variant.

READ MORE: How Switzerland plans to contain the Delta variant

"Due to our location in the centre of Europe, Switzerland is keen to contribute to a uniform entry policy in the Schengen area", SEM spokesperson told Watson.

This means that Switzerland wants to align itself more closely with EU recommendations because “they are based on objective criteria for assessing the pandemic-related situation in the individual countries and areas”,  SEM added.

This could also mean that countries with lower infection rates than Switzerland could possibly be added to the list.

“However, the most recent EU recommendation from mid-July also calls for the travel restrictions to be lifted gradually in a number of countries”,  Watson noted.

It is important to remember that the Swiss government has two different ‘high-risk’ lists: one, published by SEM, is of countries whose residents are banned from entering Switzerland, and the other, set up by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) of those who must quarantine upon arrival.

Right now, the quarantine requirement applies only to unvaccinated travellers from the UK, India and Nepal.

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