Switzerland Excluded Eight Countries From Its High-Risk List

In times of the Pandemic, Switzerland Government has made a unique decision. They have eliminated eight countries from their high-risk countries list. Their Federal Office of Public Health made the announcement recently. The decision came after an analysis of the corona situation in these countries was done.

Countries Getting the Concession

The eight countries whose citizens get the rebate are Belgium, Luxembourg, Mexico, El Salvador, Oman, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Eswatini (Swaziland). They will not have to follow the quarantine rules compulsory for international travel by the FOPH.

Apart from that, they have also included some new countries into their high-risk category. Even countries like Croatia, French Polynesia, Guyana, Libya, Trinidad and Tobago, Lebanon, Paraguay, Ukraine, San Marino, and UAE are a part of the list. An implication that citizens of these countries, if arriving in Switzerland, would have to fulfil the mandatory conditions imposed.

It is essential for these people first to undergo a 10-day quarantine as soon as they enter Switzerland. Their inability to do so is kept punishable by law. The citizens will pay a fine for an error of judgment in this case.

Past Scenario

Also, travelers from a big chunk of the European Union countries are allowed entry in Switzerland. Residents of the UK and EFTA may also enjoy the privilege. However, when a citizen from Switzerland goes to the United Kingdom, he will have to fulfil the two-week Quarantine considered compulsory.

Those people who wish to travel and are residing in Non- Schengen countries cannot enter. Such people can only be permitted if the situation is an emergency. In that case, an exclusion of the scenario is possible.

In Switzerland, there has been a spurt in the total number of cases in the past month. The number of cases has reached 400, which is a significant enough figure. Surprisingly this mark is the highest for the country since April.

Increase in Cases at Present

However, the head of Communicable diseases at FOPH does not seem worried about the same. He reiterated that at present, they are not looking at relapse or second wave of the situation. He also pointed out that this is just a regular increase in the cases. Also, the people of Switzerland’s efforts are bearing fruit, and they have managed to keep COVID-19 under control.

The authorities also made a few things clear last week. They specified that people who wanted to travel from Switzerland to another country falling in the high-risk category were not permitted. According to them, such negligence would only cause the number of cases to multiply in their own country. This was a mistake that the Switzerland government is not willing to make at present.

In August, Switzerland also resumed Air transit with Russia. Due to the Coronavirus situation in the other country, the service was banned. They had curbed the use in March when the pandemic had just about started to spread.

However, as this situation turned to normalcy, the Switzerland government budged on its stand, thus accommodating Russia’s citizens who wished to pay a visit. As more countries get rid of the virus, Switzerland would be open to updating high-risk countries.

At present, the Corona situation in Switzerland seems to be in control. Around 44,837 people in the country tested positive. Out of this number, approximately 2017 people died. Though the situation is very much better than other countries, the relapse does not seem to be happening shortly.

Switzerland’s Government, unlike others, is pretty focussed on the COVID-19 situation. This is probably because they were able to contain the virus to quite an extent. Whatever fatalities happened were caused in the initial phases of spread.

At present, the Government and citizens are abiding with all the rules that are considered mandatory. This is to stop any further spread of the virus. However, it has been a long time since they put international travel on hold. Therefore it is but normal for the authorities to allow people from non-infected countries to come over.

Though the entry conditions have just been made simple for those from low-risk countries, others may also plan their trip. The only thing that is critical here is that they meet all guidelines of Quarantine.