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KEY POINTS: What are the new Covid travel rules between Switzerland and the UK?

Switzerland has tightened its entry rules for several countries including the UK. Here’s what you need to know.

An engine covered in plastic wrap on the tarmac at Geneva Airport
New restrictions have come into effect in Switzerland, which have an impact on travellers from the UK. Here's what you need to know. Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

PLEASE NOTE: Switzerland on December 4th scrapped the quarantine requirement. Click here for more information.

Concern surrounding the Omicron variant has led Switzerland to reinstate strict border measures, despite the corresponding hit to the country’s lucrative winter sports season.  

A new range of restrictions coming into effect on November 26th, including testing and quarantine requirements, along with outright bans. 

For UK arrivals, the rules are not only strict, but they have been uncertain and confusing at times, with the Swiss government initially saying that a ban on all UK arrivals was in place, before clarifying that this was a ten-day quarantine. 

We detailed this confusion here. 

What are the rules for entering Switzerland from the UK?

As of December 1st, the UK is on Switzerland’s virus variant list, having first been placed on this list on November 27th at 8pm. 

Arrivals from countries on this list must quarantine for ten days, regardless of vaccination status (unvaccinated people from the UK are not allowed to enter Switzerland). 

This applies to Swiss citizens, residents and also to tourists or other visitors. If you have been in the UK for a period longer than 24 hours over the past ten days, then you need to quarantine. 

Arrivals need to present a negative PCR or antigen test. Antigen tests are otherwise known as antigen rapid tests or lateral flow tests. 

Once doing so, all arrivals must get in touch with authorities in the canton they are staying in. 

You can find out the information for how to contact the cantons, as well as the procedures they have in place, here.

Between four and seven days after arriving, you need to complete another test – either PCR or antigen – and you need to communicate the result to the cantonal authorities. 

Everyone entering Switzerland will need to fill out the entry form.

READ MORE: Here is the form you need to enter Switzerland

What are the exceptions? 

One major exception to be aware of is transit. If you land in Switzerland and plan to transit to another country – either by land or by air – you will not have to quarantine in Switzerland (although you still need to fill out the entry form). 

More on that is available in the following report. 

EXPLAINED: Can travellers land in Switzerland and transit elsewhere under new rules? 

There are also a range of other exceptions laid out in the Covid-19 Ordinance. 

This includes people who transport goods across borders, people who work in public security or order, diplomats, people under 16 and people with compelling medical or professional reasons. 

Professional sportspeople are also exempted from the rule. 

These are laid out in English here. 

How long will these rules be in place? 

The rules were put in place suddenly and without warning, forcing many people to cancel or alter their travel plans. 

Therefore, at this stage it is difficult to say how long the rules will be in place. 

As of December 1st, several cases of the Omicron variant have already been detected in Switzerland, which could mean that efforts to keep it out will be scrapped or at least watered down. 

That said, Switzerland has flagged a range of new measures to be put in place domestically, with travel restrictions often seen as a way of tackling the issue while inflicting comparatively less harm the domestic economy (although the tourist industry is unlikely to agree). 

These new measures are set to remain in place until January 24th, 2022, which is the same day on which the Covid certificate requirement is set to expire.

However, the Covid certificate can be extended if the epidemiological situation requires it, which certainly looks to be the case on current figures.

‘Critical situation’: Switzerland’s new coronavirus hotspots

Furthermore, with a majority of voters approving the certificate at a referendum in late November, it seems unlikely that it would be scrapped just two months later. 

Therefore, at this stage it is difficult to determine how long the travel rules will be in place, but people should think twice before making Christmas and New Year travel plans to Switzerland. 

Member comments

  1. Yes, interesting to predict how long the 10 day quarantine will remain. As the new variant has already arrived in Switzerland, and infection rates are possibly/probably at a similar level to numbers in the UK, not sure the quarantine will help much. Plus, within two weeks we’ll be clearer about whether existing vaccines do offer protection. Hoteliers will be hoping the quarantine requirement is lifted this side of Christmas – or the Swiss hospitality industry may be taking an unnecessary hit, which it can ill afford.

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of 420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of 2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some 200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of 2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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