 Poster: A snowHead
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Whilst not wanting to infringe too much on personal freedoms, it is ludicrous that during a quarantine period you can then go to a port/airport (with many other people) to exit the UK just as you fancied a short trip.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Whilst not wanting to infringe too much on personal freedoms, it is ludicrous that during a quarantine period you can then go to a port/airport (with many other people) to exit the UK just as you fancied a short trip.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@ster, I agree that's why I thought I must have been thick.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@shep, it is indeed a load of bollox.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@ster, @holidayloverxx, not so ridiculous when you consider that anyone doing this will have had a negative pre-outbound flight test, and most likely at least a negative Day 2 test as well, and also that the overwhelming majority of amber list countries have COVID rates much lower than the UK at present. I haven‘t done this but the cost and hassle involved is significant and everyone I know who has done this has had compelling reasons to return to the UK to sort something or someone out - not just because they fancied a jolly. 
What actually seems more ridiculous is that you can travel the length of the UK from a high risk COVID area to a low risk area without taking any kind of test at all, just because you fancied a holiday.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Gämsbock, no...it is ridiculous. If your stay is e g. longer than 10 days you will still have had all the negative tests and would still have to quarantine unless you have a day 5 release test...which is day 6 in reality as landing day is day 0.
The possibility of a 4 day hop...regardless of reason for doing it..makes a mockery of the whole thing. But why am I surprised?
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@holidayloverxx, I‘m sorry, but I cannot follow your logic at all. The point is that you are not out and about whilst you are in the UK for the duration of your quarantine. Whether you stay for 10 days or 4 days, you are not in the local pub or wherever either way. For travel you do exactly the same thing on your return journey as you do on your outward journey. As a recently once, twice, maybe even thrice negatively tested person, you are much less likely to have and spread the virus than the average person on the street.
But then I can‘t follow the logic for the need for quarantine from most amber list countries anyway.
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@Gämsbock, so you quarantine for 10 days because you might develop covid during the incubation period. You don't develop it so you are free to go about your business after 10 days
You come for 4 days, quarantine for 4 days then leave...perhaps just as you are becoming infectious.
It doesn't matter how likely or not likely due to vax and multiple neg tests. If the UK govt let's you out to mix with people while returning home after a 4 day visit why does everyone else have to quarantine for 10 days?
If 10 days is deemed necessary then trips of a shorter duration should not be possible (test to release a couple of days early notwithstanding)
The whole thing is beyond me.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@holidayloverxx, well it‘s beyond me too but I think we are both looking it at from the perspective of the rules should make sense… which they clearly don‘t but I take the view that the fundamental issue is with the countries on the amber list in the first place. Allowing non-resident Brits to quarantine with family members is basically a very small concession to the difficultly of people separated from their families for very long periods.
Really quarantine from most amber countries is nothing to do with them being high risk and everything to do with creating barriers to entry to discourage travel. As an example, rates per 100k population are 1.5 in CH vs 22.3 in UK (7 day rolling average from FT), and many amber list countries are even lower than CH. It was reported last week that there hasn‘t been a single positive test from entries from 151 of 167 amber list countries. The current chances of a negatively tested individual from most of the amber list countries bringing the virus in are really microscopically small. The Zoe Symptom study guy said similar last week, and pointed out that the risk with traveling from the UK to an amber list country would be from other UK travellers on the plane, not the destination country.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Tue 29-06-21 10:58; edited 1 time in total
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@Gämsbock, can't argue with that
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Gämsbock wrote: |
@holidayloverxx, well it‘s beyond me too but I think we are both looking it at from the perspective of the rules should make sense… which they clearly don‘t but I take the view that the fundamental issue is with the countries on the amber list in the first place. Allowing non-resident Brits to quarantine with family members is basically a very small concession to the difficultly of people separated from their families for very long periods.
Really quarantine from most amber countries is nothing to do with them being high risk and everything to do with creating barriers to entry to discourage travel. As an example, rates per 100k population are 1.5 in CH vs 22.3 in UK (7 day rolling average from FT), and many amber list countries are even lower than CH. It was reported last week that there hasn‘t been a single positive test from entries from 151 of 167 amber list countries. The current chances of a negatively tested individual from most of the amber list countries bringing the virus in are really microscopically small. The Zoe Symptom study guy said similar last week, and pointed out that the risk with traveling from the UK to an amber list country would be from other UK travellers on the plane, not the destination country. |
99.6% of returners from Amber countries tested negative
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@iainm, is that from a recent update? I saw that figure a few weeks ago, but it was from a 3 week period only nearly a month ago.
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In total, 89 of 23,465 travellers who arrived in the UK from an amber list country between 20 May and 9 June tested positive for the virus, a rate of around 0.4%.
The amber list is made up of 167 countries, which includes almost all of Europe. Of these, 151 countries returned travellers which had no positive cases at all. |
It would be interesting to know the updated data, and also what the distribution of those 89 cases was in the 16 countries with positive tests. And which countries were on the list of 151 with no cases.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Skimum1, this was just posted on the “UK in Switzerland - British embassy in Berne” Facebook page - my bold. Sorry it´s not better news.
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From 26 June, fully vaccinated persons are allowed to enter Switzerland from countries with a variant of concern, including the UK, without having to be tested or to quarantine. All vaccines approved by Swissmedic, the EMA or the WHO are accepted. The entry ban remains in place for travellers who are not fully vaccinated.
Following your many questions about advice on different channels, we have been following up with the Federal Office of Public Health about the regulation for children under 18 entering Switzerland with fully vaccinated parents. FOPH have formally confirmed that unvaccinated children must test and quarantine for 10 days, and this will remain the position as long as the UK is on the Swiss list of “variants of concern“. They also have to report to the relevant cantonal health authority. Children under 16 years of age are exempt from testing but not from the quarantine obligation.
You can check if you are eligible for entry into Switzerland here: travelcheck.admin.ch/home
For further information see:
ℹ️ bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home/krankheiten/ausbrueche-epidemien-pandemien/aktuelle-ausbrueche-epidemien/novel-cov/empfehlungen-fuer-reisende/quarantaene-einreisende.html
ℹ️ sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/sem/aktuell/faq-einreiseverweigerung.html#1668147653
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@Gämsbock, thank you… so do I. That’s a blow, but not entirely unexpected I guess.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@shep, you‘re welcome 
I also haven‘t see my parents since August last year and my brother since Christmas 2019, so I‘m very sympathetic to anyone separated from their families. None of us have met my brother‘s first child yet either, and she‘s 10 months old. Several cancelled trips have taken a bit of a toll on my family so my perspective is on the cautious side, at least for my family travelling (rather than me).
I have personally found the updates over the last few weeks a bit unclear, even going to the official sources. One of the confusions is that Switzerland makes a distinction between a „high-risk“ country and a „country with a variant of concern“ and the rules are slightly different. Unfortunately the UK falls into the latter.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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And yet the same FOPH site also says:
'17. What happens if children and young people enter Switzerland from a country with a variant of concern (VOC)?
- From 28 June, a test and quarantine will only be required if the children and young people are entering Switzerland from a country with a variant of concern against which the vaccination does not provide protection (an immuno-evasive variant).'
i.e. the requirement for test and quarantine of young people is only where the VOC is an immuno-evasive variant, which the Delta variant is not. So the contrary statements could be either (a) a misinterpretation or incomplete explanation by officials or (b) a statement that supersedes and contradicts the above, with the above not having been edited to reflect the change.
So some clarification would certainly be useful.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| LaForet wrote: |
| So some clarification would certainly be useful. |
Indeed. It’s an odd thing for the Swiss authorities to say, unless it is with an eye on the future for a new, as yet unemerged variant. But so far none of the approved vaccines have shown to provide zero protection against any current variant; equally none of the vaccines have shown total protection. They all seem to provide various measures of protection against all the different variants, so the Swiss regulations are definitely falling in to a grey area.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I agree with the above… I suspect it’s (b) as the children were quite clearly exempt as was discussed on this board at the time. Our hotel even confirmed directly with the authorities before we confirmed our booking. I suspect the rising UK case load has given cause for rethink and reinterpretation.
I read here https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-target-80--vaccination-rate-amid-delta-variant-concerns/46739858 that the Swiss expect Delta to be the dominant strain there in a few weeks anyway so I guess they just want to vaccinate as many as they can in the meantime. Maybe the rules will change once it is although possibly too late for summer visits. Sorry for those hoping to reunite with family 
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Switzerland is now (8.7.21) removed from the FCDO 'advises against' list.
Weekly update from GOV.UK for: Switzerland travel advice
Change made: The FCDO no longer advises against all but essential travel to Switzerland, based on the current assessment of COVID-19 risks
Time updated: 5:25pm, 8 July 2021
Why am I getting this email?: You asked GOV.UK to send you one email a week about: Switzerland travel advice
Which is good news in terms of travel insurance, as most insurers wouldn't take on over-60s like me if the FCDO classified CH as an 'advises against' destination. It should also extend the choice of cover available even if you're younger. Just worth reiterating that your EHIC/GHIC is not valid in Switzerland post-Brexit and so having assured Travel Insurance cover is as important as, say, when you're visiting the USA.
The latest GOV.UK pages on Switzerland Travel Advice are here.
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We are travelling back to CH on Monday with Swiss Manchester-Zurich. Reams of paperwork printed, and we have a test booked at the airport tomorrow afternoon, even though we've been double-jabbed. Fingers crossed.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@telford_mike, watching with interest. I’m hoping to head to Switzerland soon in my car and would be very interested to hear of personal experiences. I’ve been jabbed x2 and have the nhs app and printed paper. I will be transiting france. To go out I think all I need is a negative test. Coming back might be more complicated.
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@jbob, will report back, assuming I don’t end up in Swiss jail 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@telford_mike, Why do you have a test booked? It looks like you don't need one if you're double jabbed (if 14 days have passed since the second!)
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| musehead wrote: |
| @telford_mike, Why do you have a test booked? It looks like you don't need one if you're double jabbed (if 14 days have passed since the second!) |
It’s not yet 14 days for us. The Swiss don’t seem to care about the 14 day thing (it’s not mentioned in any of their documentation) but we thought it best not to gamble given that antigen tests are cheap.
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Looking for advice. We're planning a summer trip to Chamonix in late August. Trying to work out whether it's realistic to fly via Geneva given the extra complexity of transiting Switzerland. Has anyone planned a similar trip for this summer?
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You know it makes sense.
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@telford_mike, yep they see vax as done and dusted the day of the second vax. If, like me, you only get one then its 14 days.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Travelling from the UK to CH right now, via Eurostar and SNCF.
Prior to travel I printed out all my docs, so I wouldn't have to rely on my phone:
- Lateral Flow Test
- Vaccinations
- Declaration d'Honneur (needed to enter France)
Notionally, this is all you need to go into France. However at the last minute I realised that one of my jabs was one of the batch numbers that are (apparently) not accepted by France. Bit of research and panic over as I discovered non-vaccinated (which is technically what I would be) can enter France if they are transiting within 24 hours. So in addition, also completed an 'Attestation' and printed my onward train ticket as proof of transit.
Arrived to St Pancras, Eurostar staff checked I had the right docs with me. French passport control asked to see the Covid test and vaccination certificates. No scanning of bar codes, no checking of batch numbers. Just passed through in the normal time.
Arriving in CH in an hour, but as there are no customs going into Basel, I would assume that's it for checks.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Travelled to CH by air (Swiss LX391) from Manchester to Zurich this morning. Here's what happened.
Checked in at the Business desk at MAN. Currently this is shared by the relevant Star Alliance airlines (Swiss, Austrian and Lufthansa) and Emirates. We were checked-in by an employee of Emirates. We were asked for:
- Passport (naturally),
- Residence Permit for Switzerland (no idea why, but we handed them over),
- NHS vaccination certificate. Ours were rejected, as our second jabs were only 7 days ago. (This is irrelevant for Switzerland, as they consider you fully vaccinated as soon as you've had your second shot).
- Covid test. We knew we didn't really need this, as we'd been sufficiently jabbed for the Swiss authorities, but suspecting there might be confusion we'd got antigen tests the afternoon before at the airport from Collinson. These were accepted no problem. Incidentally, Collinson at Manchester airport were very good - results in 20 minutes and a printed certificate.
And so we got our boarding cards, and the flight proceeded without incident.
Arrival at Zurich:
We walked up to the 'All passports' section at immigration and presented our (U.K.) passports and residence permits. Straight through, no issues.
At no point were we asked for the QR codes that we'd been emailed after completing the online Swiss PLF form. We got an SMS from the BAG advising that non-vaccinated arrivals had to quarantine, and a similar one from Swisscom with the same message.
And that's it. The U.K. check-in agents clearly have no clue about the current rules, and my advice to anyone travelling would be to get an antigen test, even though you know you don't need one. Without this, we may have been denied boarding. You don't need a residence permit either, but as we had them we weren't about to argue the toss when we just wanted to get through security and have a cup of coffee.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@telford_mike, thanks 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@telford_mike - Thanks for that. I am planning a trip to Vex on 9th August and currently getting as much info as I can. We dont have a Residence Permit unfortunately but I think we will take an antigen test to be on the safe side. Do children (age 6 and 2) need to provide those too or just adults? Cheers.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@NewSkiingDad, anyone traveling from a country with a variant of concern (i.e. UK) who is unvaccinated (including kids) has to isolate for 10 days on arrival in Switzerland. See further up the page.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I've just cancelled my holiday to CH on account of this rule - hotel was very sympathetic and deposit is on credit for our next visit, but can't help but feel disappointed (while accepting my disappointment is not much compared to those separated from family etc). It is clear that unvaccinated kids are allowed to enter Switzerland with vaccinated parents but the requirement for quarantine is separate to the entry rules and still applies to kids from countries with variants of concern  Thanks again to @Gämsbock for pointing it out; there was some confusion and contradiction before this was formally clarified and it could have been disastrous for us!
Given the ongoing progress of delta in Europe I wonder if this might change in due course, but given the sky high UK case rates perhaps it won't.
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@Skimum1, sorry that you’ve had to cancel your holiday . I hope you manage to get over soon.
This is speculation on my part but I suspect they see that in the UK as here in Switzerland much of the transmission is being driven by the younger age groups and therefore consider them much higher risk of bringing the virus in (also asymptomatically) than older vaccinated adults.
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Can someone just clarify this for me: if you are vaccinated and your kids come with you, do they have to quarantine on arrival?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@iainm, Yes.
From what I can figure out they can come but they have to quarantine.
The exception being if they are transiting to another Schengen country with you i.e. arrive at GVA but go into France
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FAQ
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. Please keep posting anything you come across 
).