Norwegian authorities announced on Thursday that arrivals from Switzerland will be required to quarantine on arrival for ten days as of Saturday, August 8th. 

Infections have risen in Switzerland in recent days, with the numbers approaching 200 per day over the past week for the first time in months. 

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In addition to adding Switzerland to the lists, quarantines will also be required for arrivals from France, Monaco and the Czech Republic, along with some regions of Sweden. 

Belgium and Spain were already on Norway's list of so-called 'red' quarantine-applicable countries.

The quarantine must last for a minimum of ten days. 

Geneva a new hotspot

On Monday, August 3rd, the number of new infections per 100,000 residents in Geneva crossed the 100 mark, reaching 103 per 100,000 for the past 14 days. 

The mark is well above the Swiss government’s ‘high risk’ classification of 60 per 100,000 – meaning that if Geneva was a separate country, residents would be forced to quarantine upon entering the rest of Switzerland. 

On Saturday August 1st, Belgium banned travel to and from Geneva, along with Valais and Vaud, as a result of the rising infections, although Valais and Vaud were removed from the list on Wednesday, August 5th.

READ: Everything you need to know about Switzerland's new quarantine requirement 

Nicola Low, epidemiologist at the University of Bern, told Swiss media outlet 20 Minutes “the infection figures refer to an entire country. On average, they are lower in Switzerland than in the countries on the quarantine list.”

“Geneva is currently a hotspot. If Geneva were a country, the FOPH would have to put it on the quarantine list.”

In one of Europe’s wealthiest regions with excellent health care – not to mention the headquarters of the World Health Organisation – how did it get so bad? 

Editor's note: a previous version of this article erroneously included Poland in the listed of Norway's 'red' countries. This has been corrected.