Switzerland Prolongs Border Controls With All Schengen Zone Countries

Switzerland’s government has decided to prolong internal border controls with all countries part of Europe’s Schengen Area in a bid to prevent the further spread of the Coronavirus pandemic and protect its citizens from the disease.

Authorities in Switzerland last week imposed entry restrictions by air and land from France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Spain, as well as all countries that do not belong on the Schengen zones, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

“Since midnight, these stricter entry requirements have also applied to flights from all remaining Schengen states with the exception of the Principality of Liechtenstein. The relevant authorities in the EU have been notified of the changes,” the Swiss government announced through a statement.

All flights from other countries are now subject to stricter entry requirements and controls at airports.

Liechtenstein and Switzerland citizens, as well as persons who obtain a residence permit and those who need to travel to Switzerland for work purposes or any emergency case, will continue to be permitted to enter the country.

All persons are still allowed to transit through Switzerland. Movements of goods are also permitted.

The country has registered a total of 590,164 cases of infections with Coronavirus, and 10,284 persons have died up to this point.

Based on the statistics published by Worldometers, 541,208 persons have totally recovered from Switzerland’s disease, while there are over 38,670 active cases.

On Wednesday,  the rate of infections in Switzerland stood at 523 new infections per 100,000 people.

Authorities in Switzerland announced earlier this week that they removed the United States and the United Kingdom from their compulsory quarantine list.

Other countries like Barbados, Ireland, Lithuania, Qatar, the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, as well as Saint Lucia have also been removed from Switzerland’s quarantine list.

The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in France has also been removed from the quarantine list and the Apulia region in Italy.

Starting from April 5, citizens of the United States and Britain will no longer be obliged to stay self-isolated when entering Switzerland, based on the country’s updated list of territories affected by the Coronavirus pandemic.

The decision comes as, according to authorities in Switzerland, both countries mentioned above have made great strides with vaccinations and have reported a lower rate of infections.

Following the example of some other European countries, authorities in Switzerland previously announced that they are also planning to launch a vaccine certificate for all persons who have taken the vaccine against the Coronavirus disease.