Switzerland Lifts Quarantine Obligation for Arrivals From US and UK, Who Are Permitted to Enter the Country
Citizens of the United States and the United Kingdom will be eligible to enter Switzerland’s territory for essential purposes without being subject to compulsory quarantine rule upon their arrival, as they have been removed from the latter’s quarantine list.
Travelers from Ireland, Lithuania, Barbados, Qatar, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Lucia will also be permitted to enter Switzerland for essential purposes without being obliged to stay self-isolated, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
As for France, the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine has also been removed from the quarantine list, as well as the Apulia region in Italy.
The decision will come into effect on April 5 and has been taken after estimating that the COVID-19 situation in the countries and regions mentioned above has ameliorated.
According to Switzerland’s authorities, the United States and the United Kingdom have made significant progress with vaccinations and have reported fewer cases of infections from the disease.
The most recent measures have been taken in an attempt by the Swiss authorities to move towards a policy of reopening their borders with more and more Swiss citizens being vaccinated against the virus.
One of the means that Switzerland plans to use for its reopening is also the usage of vaccination passports, or vaccination certificates, which idea has already been embraced by some European countries. The latter aims to ease the traveling process for persons who have taken the vaccine against the virus and help the tourism sector recover from the COVID-19 damages.
Switzerland’s government is also planning to introduce such a document while considering the idea as a helpful method.
In spite of its reopening policy, the country has already expanded some of its Coronavirus preventive measures, including by prolonging internal border controls with all Schengen Zone countries.
“Since midnight, these stricter entry requirements have also applied to flights from all remaining Schengen states except for the Principality of Liechtenstein. The relevant authorities in the EU have been notified of the changes,” the Swiss government announced through a statement.
Last week, Switzerland introduced entry restrictions by land and air from Italy, France, Austria, Germany, Spain, and all non-Schengen countries.
Switzerland’s government clarified that stricter controls at airports and entry requirements would be applied to all persons coming from other countries. However, persons who need to transit through Switzerland are still permitted to do so. Movements of goods are also allowed.
More than 590,160 persons have tested positive for the Coronavirus in Switzerland since the beginning of the pandemic, and over 10,280 persons have died as yet.
The statistics published by Worldometers reveal that more than 541,200 persons have recovered from the deadly virus in the country. Still, there are more than 38,670 active cases. On Wednesday, authorities in Switzerland announced that the rate of infections stood at 523 new infections per 100,000 people.
