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COVID-19

EXPLAINED: What are Switzerland’s current Covid measures?

Tighter Covid measures have been put into effect in Switzerland since December 20th. Here's what you need to know.

Published: 19 December 2021 10:16 CET
Updated: 11 January 2022 11:33 CET
A checked Swiss Covid-19 certificate on a mobile phone bearing 3G  and 2G signs
A checked Swiss Covid-19 certificate on a mobile phone bearing 3G (for tested, vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19) and 2G (vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19) signs. New restrictions in Switzerland include banning unvaccinated people from restaurants and cultural activities. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

Switzerland will tighten Covid measures amid a worsening situation in the country, the government announced on Friday afternoon.

The measures will apply from Monday, December 20th. 

While the Covid certificate will be restricted only to the vaccinated and recovered, the toughest measures forecast last weekend – which included the complete closure of bars, restaurants and events – have been left off the table.

‘They endanger everyone’: Your verdict on Switzerland’s ‘lockdown for the unvaccinated’

Under the new rules, only vaccinated and recovered people will be able to access restaurants, cultural, sports and leisure facilities as well as events.

Masks will be required and people must also have an allocated seat.

Clubs, discos and bars without allocated seating will be restricted to vaccinated and recovered people who can also show a recent negative test. This is known as 2G+.

2G+ will also cover people who have had a recent booster. If you have had a booster shot in the previous four months, then 2G+ will apply and you will not need to show an additional negative test. 

Negative tests can be up to 72 hours old if they are PCR tests (individual or pooled), or up to 24 hours old if they are antigen tests. 

Self-tests are not sufficient for the 2G-Plus rule. 

EXPLAINED: What is Switzerland’s 2G-Plus rule?

The government has also agreed to cover the costs of testing for the purposes of the Covid certificate. Testing for travel abroad will not be covered by the government.

The entry rules will be relaxed, whereby people only need to show one test on entry (either PCR or antigen). The PCR test can be up to 72 hours old, the antigen test must be less than 24 hours old.

Vaccinated and recovered people do not need to show another test 4-7 days after.

More information about the changes is available at the following link. 

READ MORE: Switzerland to relax arrival test rules from Monday

Private meetings will also be restricted. Indoors where at least one unvaccinated person is present, the maximum number of people is ten. Only people aged 16 and over count towards the tally. 

If the entire group is vaccinated, the limit is 30 people – and 50 people if the event takes place outside.

Working from home will again be mandatory for everyone who is able to do it.

While the specifics of the working from home requirement have not been laid out expressly, they are expected to resemble those which were in place last winter. 

In effect, anyone who can work from home must do so. For instance, this will be OK for officer workers, but not for bakers (unless they have a tremendous home oven set up). 

More information is available at the following link (in relation to the previous working-from-home requirement). 

EXPLAINED: What are Switzerland’s working-from-home rules?

Not urgent surgeries will be postponed and masks will be required in secondary schools.

The measures are in place until at least January 24th, 2022, but look likely to be extended. 

The official government page is available here. 

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COVID-19

What does the increase in the number of Covid cases in Switzerland mean?

Coronavirus infections are on the rise again, with Swiss health officials and epidemiologists expressing concern over the possible evolution of the disease.

Published: 15 November 2023 15:32 CET
What does the increase in the number of Covid cases in Switzerland mean?

While the worst of the Covid pandemic is long over, and experts don’t expect it to re-emerge with the same strength and health consequences as it had in 2020, new cases have been reported in the past weeks.

Wastewater analysis, one of the means employed by health officials to measure the presence of coronavirus, indicates a viral load that is at least five times higher than usual, with values “now almost as high as in some previous Omicron-related waves,” Christoph Ort, spokesperson for Eawag Institute, which traces Covid viruses in 14 wastewater treatment plants in Switzerland, told the media.

What does this mean?

According to Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), the most common sub-variant in Switzerland right now is the highly transmissible XBB, also known as ‘Kraken.’

The Eris and Pirola variants, which circulated in the summer and early fall are also still present.

While none is nearly as dangerous (at least for most people) as the early Alpha and Delta viruses, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the early stages of the pandemic, there is a reason for concern nevertheless.

“It’s a start of a small wave,” said Rudolf Hauri, head of the Cantonal Doctors’ Association.

“More people are being admitted to hospitals again with, or because of, coronavirus. There are also new cases in intensive care units, but these are generally people with a medical history.”

Should you be worried?
 
While the number of people with serious Covid-related complications is not expected to be as high as previously, the rise in the number of infections should not be trivialised either, infectious disease specialists say.
 
This is especially important for people in the high-risk category — those over 65 or suffering from chronic illnesses — who can get quite sick if infected with the new variants, according to FOPH.
 
This is all the more important as the flu season is about to begin in Switzerland as well, and the confluence of both illnesses, plus other respiratory viruses that typically circulate during the winter, can be very risky.
 
What can you do to protect yourself?
 
Other than adopting the same protective measures as those during the pandemic — that is, washing hands, avoiding close contacts and crowded spaces, and wearing masks where needed — health officials also recommend top-up shots, for both Covid and flu.

READ ALSO: Who should get top-up Covid and flu jabs in Switzerland?

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