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Crown numbers in Switzerland currently only know one direction: upwards, always further. Switzerland has long been a risk zone, by its own standard. The following applies to travelers: Anyone arriving in Switzerland from a country that has more than 60 new corona infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past 14 days must first be quarantined for ten days. There was a time when Switzerland was well below this value. But that is over. Yesterday the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) reported 136 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days; Almost no canton in the entire country is even below the BAG risk area limit.
Sometimes this has consequences that are difficult to convey. For example, that people come from countries that are currently less affected by the virus than Switzerland, and then they still need to be quarantined here first. This is the case in Denmark, for example, where the 14-day incidence is 100.
Tourists don’t book winter vacations
Voices such as those of FDP politicians such as Andrea Caroni or Marcel Dobler, who describe the current entry regime as absurd, are therefore increasingly stronger. There is also growing pressure from business circles on the BAG to review quarantine rules. Various reasons are given. Among other things, the Swiss guidelines differ greatly from those of neighboring countries. Philipp Hadorn, president of SEV-GATA, the union of aviation ground personnel, takes as an example the situation at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg. Anyone entering from a risk country with Switzerland as their final destination must be quarantined for 10 days. Passengers traveling to France will be saved from this if they can show a negative Corona test. It should not be more than three days old. Germany has a similar rule, but the test should not be longer than 48 hours.
“This patchwork quilt is absurd,” says Hadorn. It demands that the Federal Council advocate for a “proper and as uniform possible corona testing and quarantine system” in Europe. The former National Council yesterday sent an open letter to the Federal Council on behalf of SEV-GATA and other unions of the aeronautical industry, confirming this demand. According to Hadorn, it’s also about keeping jobs in the country.
The aviation industry is not the only one putting pressure on it. Andreas Züllig also talks about a “big problem”. Züllig is President of Hotelleriesuisse. It says guests from Belgium, the Netherlands or Great Britain are not currently booking holidays to Switzerland due to strict quarantine rules. All three countries are on the risk list. Anyone wishing to enter Switzerland would have to be quarantined for ten days, which is not exactly an incentive to spend the next winter holidays in Switzerland. ‘The current uncertainty is poison. Guests need urgent planning security, ”said Züllig.
The umbrella economic organization Economiesuisse also states that the quarantine regime must be “urgently adapted.” There is a quarantine exception for business travel if it cannot be postponed and takes less than five days. According to Roger Wehrli, Economiesuisse’s deputy director of economic policy, that is not enough. Employees still have to be quarantined too often. “That costs,” Wehrli says.
The federal government verifies rapid tests and verifies the
Something should happen. And fast. Business representatives agree on this, despite the rapid increase in the number of cases in Europe. There is great hope in rapid tests. These should allow the entry quarantine to be abolished. “We hope the federal government will present them soon,” says Hotelleriesuisse president Züllig. You can then test the guests by entering across the board and quarantine them if the result is negative. FDP National Councilor Marcel Dobler also sees rapid tests as a possible solution. Epidemiologist Marcel Tanner of the federal crown task force says rapid tests could play an important role. “They give you perspective,” says Tanner. However, careful validation is important.
The Federal Office of Public Health has been working on this validation for a long time. However, there is currently no reliable and validated test that can also be used outside of laboratories. An adaptation of the quarantine rules is currently being verified, he said.
