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New sanitary rules set for rail passengers between Switzerland and Italy

Trains between Switzerland and Italy are circulating again, but new measures are in place.

Published: 14 December 2020 13:41 CET
New sanitary rules set for rail passengers between Switzerland and Italy
Rules are in place for passengers going to Italy. Photo by AFP.

Authorities from both countries announced last week that all cross-border rail services would halt because COVID-19 safety checks couldn't be guaranteed.  

An Italian government decree requires that train operators carry out temperature checks on passengers, who also must show they’ve tested negative for the Covid-19, and have a self-declaration form justifying travel to Italy.

Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) said its personnel does not have the capacity to carry out such checks.

But just days later, Swiss president Simonetta Sommaruga and Italian Minister of Transport Paola De Micheli decided that the EuroCity services between the two countries would be maintained to a limited extent.

The two parties announced on Sunday that they have worked out a system of health checks that will allow the train traffic to continue.

They will mandate the Italian police to carry out sporadic checks on trains, including on the Swiss side.

To cross the border, passengers will have to have a temperature test, a negative coronavirus test, and a certificate to explain reasons for travel.

READ MORE: UPDATE: Cross-border train service between Switzerland and Italy to continue running 

However, cross-border workers returning to Italy from their jobs in Switzerland will be exempted from the obligation to carry the form.

“This requirement would have been problematic in view of the regional objectives around the mobility and the quality of life of people who live on both sides of the border”, said Norman Gobbi, president of Ticino’s cantonal government.

In all, 70,000 Italians work in Ticino. 

Those who commute by train rather than by car use regional TILO trains, which connect Ticino with the Italian region of Lombardy.

From December 13th, when the new SBB timetable came into effect, two pairs of EuroCity trains run on the Gotthard axis and two pairs on the Simplon axis. 


• EC 313 dp. Zurich 07:10, arr. Milan 10:50 am
• EC 316 dp Milan 11:10, arr. Zurich 2:50 p.m.
• EC 34 dp Milan 13:05, arr. Geneva 5:21 p.m.
• EC 37 dp Geneva 07:39, arr. Milan 11:40 am
• EC 50 dp Milan 07:20, arr. Basel 11:32 am
• EC 57 dp Basel 12:28, arr. Milan 4:40 p.m.
 

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

READ ALSO: 

People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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