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COVID-19 CERTIFICATE

Switzerland set to extend Covid certificate to bars and restaurants from Monday

Switzerland's Covid certificate will be required in bars, restaurants, gyms and some private events from Monday onwards, with the government saying "the situation in the hospitals is serious".

Published: 7 September 2021 15:41 CEST
Updated: 8 September 2021 15:01 CEST
Switzerland set to extend Covid certificate to bars and restaurants from Monday
A final decision is expected on Wednesday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Matthias Balk

*ALERT: Switzerland announces extension of Covid certificates – Follow the latest news HERE.

Switzerland’s Federal Council is set to extend the Covid certificate from September 13th, after previously delaying its decision by a week.

In a press conference on Wednesday Health Minister Alain Berset said the Covid certificate would now be required in almost all indoor areas, other than a handful of exceptions. 

Covid certificates will be required to enter indoor areas of restaurants, bars, fitness centres, as well as sports events, cultural facilities, and private parties, as is currently the case in most of Switzerland’s neighbour countries.

READ MORE: When will Switzerland decide whether to enforce the Covid certificate in restaurants?

The certificate will also be required in the workplace in many instances. 

Even though this plan was set to be approved on September 1st after being put out for consultation in late August, authorities postponed its implementation due to a slower than expected increase in hospitalisations at the time. 

However, the number of admissions to intensive care units has increased in the past few days, with Swiss intensive care units having more Covid-related patients than any other European country on a per capita basis.

A number of cantons have reached or are reaching their full capacities in all of their ICUs. 

On a nationwide basis, ICUs are at 87 percent capacity, as at September 7th. 

READ MORE: Why does Switzerland have the most Covid-related ICU patients in Europe?

Member comments

  1. OK, but how many ICU are available? There are reports showing that the capacity of ICU units have been severely decreased during the pandemics. I see this as a form of coercion and discrimination, linked to the obligation of administering an experimental vaccine with proven short term side effects, and unknown long term consequences.

    1. This is precisely what’s happening. A good friend of mine works as a consultant with one of the hospital groups and they reduced beds overall and including ICU beds. It’s definitely all about coercion and threats. Also, the comment “…Covid certificates will be required to enter indoor areas of…, as is currently the case in most of Switzerland’s neighbour countries.” Is this how we make decisions now? Johnny got a new bike so I want one too.

      A lot of good the vaccines are doing. At my husband’s small office of 14…3 got covid (2x jabbed) but my husband not. He had a covid test about 3 days before they found out they were sick and he got one a few days after they notified him. Both times he was negative. So how the heck does a passport stop the spread of the virus? It doesn’t. It’s a GREAT BIG STICK. I have a friend currently suffering through a terrible bout of Shingles after her Pfizer jab. The pharmacist told her they are getting a lot of people coming in with shingles after their shots. Meanwhile she has worked throughout the entire pandemic in a service facing job with the public and was never sick. Now this. She’s on sick leave.

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TRAVEL NEWS

EU extends Covid travel certificates until 2023 but what does this mean for travellers?

The EU has announced that its Covid travel certificate will be extended until 2023. Claudia Delpero looks at what this mean if you have a trip planned this year.

Published: 29 June 2022 11:03 CEST
Updated: 4 July 2022 09:35 CEST
EU extends Covid travel certificates until 2023 but what does this mean for travellers?

Cleaning up the phone and thinking of getting rid of that Covid app? Just wait a minute. 

The European Union has decided to extend the use of EU Covid certificates by one year, until June 30th 2023. 

The European Commission first made the proposal in February as the virus, and the Omicron variant in particular, was continuing to spread in Europe. At that point it was “not possible to determine the impact of a possible increase in infections in the second half of 2022 or of the emergence of new variants,” the Commission said. 

Now tourism is taking off again, while Covid cases are on the rise in several European countries.

So the EU has taken action to ensure that travellers can continue using the so-called ‘digital green certificates’ in case new restrictions are put in place after their initial deadline of June 30th, 2022. 

What is the EU ‘digital green certificate’?

If you have travelled within the EU in the last year, you have probably already used it.

On 1st July 2021, EU countries started to introduce the ‘digital green certificate’, a Covid pass designed by the European Commission to facilitate travel between EU member states following months of restrictions.

It can be issued to EU citizens and residents who have been vaccinated against Covid, have tested negative or have recovered from the virus, as a proof of their health status. 

Although it’s called a certificate, it isn’t a separate document, it’s just a way of recognising all EU countries’ national health pass schemes.

It consists of a QR code displayed on a device or printed.

So if you live in an EU country, the QR code issued when you were vaccinated or tested can be scanned and recognised by all other EU countries – you can show the code either on a paper certificate or on your country’s health pass app eg TousAntiCovid if you’re in France or the green pass in Italy. 

Codes are recognised in all EU 27 member states, as well as in 40 non-EU countries that have joined the scheme, including the UK – full list here.

What does the extension of certificates mean? 

In practice, the legal extension of the EU Covid pass does not mean much if EU countries do not impose any restrictions.

It’s important to point out that each country within the EU decides on its own rules for entry – requiring proof of vaccination, negative tests etc so you should check with your country of destination.

All the EU certificate does is provide an easy way for countries to recognise each others’ certificates.

At present travel within the EU is fairly relaxed, with most countries only requiring negative tests for unvaccinated people, but the certificate will become more relevant again if countries impose new measures to curb the spread of the virus. 

According to the latest data by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, countries such as France, Portugal and parts of Italy and Austria are in the red again. 

The EU legislation on the certificate neither prescribes nor prohibits such measures, but makes sure that all certificate holders are treated in the same way in any participating country. 

The EU certificate can also be used for access to venues such as bars and restaurants if countries decided to re-impose health or vaccines passes on a domestic basis.

So nothing changes?

In fact, the legislation introduces some changes to the current certificates. These include the clarification that passes issued after vaccination should reflect all doses administered, regardless of the member state where the inoculation occurred. This followed complaints of certificates indicating an incorrect number of vaccine doses when these were received in different countries.

In addition, new rules allow the possibility to issue a certificate of recovery following an antigen test and extend the range of uthorised antigen tests to qualify for the green pass. 

To support the development and study of vaccines against Covid, it will also be possible to issue vaccination certificates to people participating in clinical trials.

At the insistence of the European Parliament, the Commission will have to publish an assessment of the situation by December 31st 2022 and propose to repeal or maintain the certificate accordingly. So, while it is extended for a year, the certificate could be discontinued earlier if it will no longer be consider necessary. 

The European parliament rapporteur, Spanish MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar, said: “The lack of coordination from EU governments on travel brought chaos and disruption to the lives of millions of Europeans that simply wanted to move freely and safely throughout the EU.

“We sincerely hope that the worst of the pandemic is far behind us and we do not want Covid certificates in place a day longer than necessary.”

Vaccination requirements for the certificate

An EU certificate can be issued to a person vaccinated with any type of vaccine, but many countries accept only EMA-approved vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax, Valneva and Janssen) – if you have been vaccinated with another vaccine, you should check the rules on the country you are travelling to.  

Certificates remain valid for 9 months (270) days following a complete vaccination cycle – so if you had your vaccine more than nine months ago you will need a booster in order to be considered fully vaccinated.

There is no requirement for a second booster, so if you have had a booster you remain ‘fully vaccinated’ even if your booster was administered more than 9 months ago. 

As of 1st March 2022, EU countries had issued almost 1.2 billion EU Covid certificates, of which 1.15 billion following vaccination, 511 million as a result of tests and 55 million after recovery from the virus. 

France, Italy, Germany, Denmark and Austria are the countries that have issued the largest number of EU Covid certificates. 

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