Switzerland Rules - Summary

A snowHead

@RichardB, the exemptions from testing are here and recent recovery is not among them.

https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home/krankheiten/ausbrueche-epidemien-pandemien/aktuelle-ausbrueche-epidemien/novel-cov/empfehlungen-fuer-reisende/quarantaene-einreisende.html#-1165939349

A snowHead

Isolation rules for COVID infections in Switzerland changed to10 days from 5. Helpful for anyone unfortunate enough get infected whilst out there on holiday.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Apologies if this is dealt elsewhere, but my reading as someone with the full house (Jab 1, Jab 2, Booster and then Covid!) is that I am OK to enter with a PCR test or LFT only and my 13 and 14 year old lads will not require any testing. And importantly will be OK for lifts etc. Thanks

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@Richie456, seems like it ok to enter Switzerland as you say and for most things, but for certain things when there depending on if your recovery or booster was more than 120 days you will need a test to access 2G+ situations.

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After all it is free

@snowheeeed, actually its better

“Children under 16 are exempt from the test requirement unless they are entering Switzerland from a country with a variant of concern.”

As there currently there is no country on the variant of concern list, they don’t need a test to enter Switzerland.

Use the links above in this thread.

My wife is treating our unvaccinated (only 1 jab so far) 14 Y old to a weekend in Verbier from tonight. We have just completed her Passenger Locator Form - she easily added our son onto it and stated that he's not fully vaccinated. The form was approved and the QR code has been issued. Their hotel has also confirmed that he is allowed to freely access all facilities. So as @telford_mike has repeatedly confirmed under 16Y olds are exempt from testing and the 2G / 2G+ etc regime.

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I am vaguely thinking of driving down to Switzerland.

Have to have a 24 hour LFT before entering France. However, if I mosey down to Switzerland and overnight somewhere in France, in the past I have often overnighted near Mulhausen, do I then need another LFT within 24 hours before entering Swotzerland or am I exempt as entering from a "local" area?

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@countryman, Reading the Swiss requirements here https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home/krankheiten/ausbrueche-epidemien-pandemien/aktuelle-ausbrueche-epidemien/novel-cov/empfehlungen-fuer-reisende/quarantaene-einreisende.html it appears that you may have to have a PCR to be valid for entry into Switzerland.

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You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Thanks @Handy Turnip - I just edited my reply to make that clear, it certainly wasn't a general point!

A snowHead

@countryman At the moment, we are also scheduled to drive down through France to Switzerland in a couple of weeks. We have an overnight stop booked near Troyes. So as far as I can see, our best option is to get a fast-track PCR test the day before we Eurotunnel. That way, it'll still be valid for long enough to get into CH.

Getting a 24h test in France before entering CH is another option, but I'd rather have just one test plus I don't want to have a positive test in France, which would be a lot of faff. If the UK-based PCR was positive, then we could just cancel the hotel and shift the Eurotunnel and stay put at home.

Or we ditch the drive, and just fly to CH with a 24h test the day before. At the moment, we have to time to see how things settle down and if CH possibly changes it's entry regulations.

A snowHead

Can someone confirm the situation if driving from France to then fly back from Geneva, from what I can see you need to do a 24hr lateral flow test and fill in a Swiss locator form.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thanks everyone.

Should have added I am triple stabbed.

All sounds too uncertain - what on earth would happen if you tested positive half way etc etc?

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So how does this work?

We get a morning Eurotunnel and drive to Switzerland.
We've done it loads of times and we will cross the French/Swiss border about 8pm.

So if we need a 24 hour LFT how can we do that?
Is it strict 24 hr? Because if it is then we have to get it done late evening the day before, or very early morning the day of travel.

Do the LFT companies work those hours?

Or is it OK if done the day before, but outside the actual 24 hours?

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@countryman, One negative UK PCR test will allow you to both enter France and later enter Switzerland (France requires a test under 24 hours old + Switzerland gives you 72 hours with a PCR) - go for it!!

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@rungsp, the two checks that we encountered driving were at passport control (P&O Ferry from UK to France and then Vallorbe entering Switzerland) - in both cases (I asked specifically to check) they checked the test time on your certificate against the current time to ensure that you were within the prescribed 72 hour PCR times allowed at the time (in November only PCR tests were allowed for entry into Switzerland).

So if you want to take a UK LFT, then the clock is certainly ticking to drive through France (once you have the test certificate) and get through the Swiss border before your 24 hours from the time of the test expires - it may be more relaxing to take a UK PCR test which allows you more time!

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Thanks @oui4ski, PCR it is then.

After all it is free

We're also driving to Switzerland 'as usual' in February, with an overnight stop in France, but I had thought that 2 X LFTs on the outward journey would work. One done the day before the tunnel crossing (for France) and one done in France, the next day, ready for entry to Switzerland the following day. £19/ test, from Testing for All.

As mentioned, ours is the 'Day#0 UK Test / Day#1 UK>France & overnight France / Day#2 France>CH' scenario, both of us adults with 2x Vax + 1x booster in Nov'19

Option#1: We can get an in-clinic PCR done locally for £99/person with a result by midnight on the day of testing (Day#0). This would cover getting into France Day#1 with an overnight stop, and be valid for long enough to also get us into Switzerland Day#2. If you add up the cost of an in-person UK LFT plus a second in-person French LFT then the difference in cost is only £10 or so. And once we have the PCR, there's no more testing to be done. And if it's positive we just cancel the hotel and shift the Eurptunnel booking and stay at home.

Option#2: We could get a cheaper antigen LFT in the UK, and then another in France the day that we travel to Switzerland. I've just contacted the hotel we're staying-over at in France and they confirmed they recommend a local pharmacy for an in-person LFT valid for 24h. So one option is to get our LFT Certificate for entry to Switzerland the morning we check out of the hotel. Obviously, this introduces the risk that we'll test positive a couple of days after a negative to get into France. I'm also assuming that if a test in France is positive, they're obliged to notify the local authorities: wouldn't you officially have to self-isolate at the hotel address that you'd given? You might be able to hurry back to Calais and get home but I'm not sure how this would pan out when you were next checked by French Immigration.

FYI the French government Santé.fr website worked well in coming up with the same pharmacy that the hotel recommends. Even if you've lined-up an online UK LFT, it might be an idea to take a look, so you know how to drive it as a backup, just in case.

Option#3: is a remote online self-administered LFT done on the evening that we stop over in France. If there was a problem, we'd probably still be able to get an LFT at the pharmacy near to our hotel the next morning. But we might not, and would then be hunting-round for somewhere else to do it. And there's the risk (however unlikely) of a negative test and any consequences as above.

So at the moment, we're waiting a bit to see. If nothing changes rules-wise, then my inclination is to go for a UK PCR test with same-day result and then we're done. Yes, it's slightly pricier than doing two in-person LFTs (in the UK then in France) but avoids the risk of a positive in France, plus effort of doing another test in France. I just feel that with #1 we will know definitively before we leave home that we have everything we need to get into both France and Switzerland - no further tests will be needed and there's zero risk of a subsequent positive result.

@rungsp Your scenario will be quite hard to satisfy with just a Day#0 LFT taken in the UK, even if you drive to CH in one go, because 24H between taking the test and entry to CH is tricky. Yes, it's do-able in theory, but it could be quite involved and/or last-minute. But we're lucky that there's a lab within 5 miles of us that does fast-turnaround PCR tests: there are lots of areas where you'd have to drive some way to find a clinic that offered one. I can also see that if you planned to drive through the night anyway, then a late UK LFT before you leave might be more practicable, although a lot depends on how short the time is between uploading the result and arriving in Calais

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Family members just got back from switz drove from satellite of verbier through france to caen ,over night ferry and home . done test once arrived home lunchtime all clear .Nobody interested crossing switz to france just asked wether they had done a lft at ferry and had they a test booked once in uk 4 adults 5 kids between 2 and 8 all home safe and sound no covid and have thouroughly enjoyed their trip . The most questions and hassle was at uk borders both going out and coming back in , And from what ive gleaned a couple of lft s en route and a vac cert is all thats needed having driven hull rotterdam out and returned caen portsmouth and very little checking anywhere other than uk so party on !!

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Reported that no entry test from 22 Jan if fully vaccinated or recovered. FOPH website not yet updated but will be on 22 Jan.

But vaccination validity period now 270 days.

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@Minion1980, on the FOPH site via a press release.

You know it makes sense.

here -- EDIT

Press release

https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home/das-bag/aktuell/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-86839.html

"..Amended rules on testing to enter Switzerland
From Saturday, 22 January, persons who have been vaccinated or who have recovered from COVID-19 will no longer be required to present a negative PCR or rapid antigen test before entering Switzerland. Persons who are not vaccinated or who have not recovered from COVID-19 will
still have to take the tests to enter the country. However, due to limited testing capacity, travellers will no longer be required to take follow-up tests four to seven days after arriving, meaning that the '3G' rule applies to enter Switzerland. The Passenger Locator Form (PLF) will only have to be completed by those travelling to Switzerland by plane or on a long-distance bus service..."

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

That's good news!

A snowHead

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/switzerland-to-shorten-validity-of-vaccination-certificates-from-february-1

A snowHead

Great news!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@ster, @albob, woah! Amazing, that's great news. So I don't even need to do all these tests I've bought? Blimey. I'll still do one of course because I'm transiting to France but that's a relief.

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@HilbertSpace, Israel's data is suggesting the fourth jab isn't doing much more than the third. I wouldn't sweat this one just yet!

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I'm wondering if France will follow suit any time soon - I'm travelling to GVA on the 29th, so thinking there's an outside chance that both UK and France might both have dropped their testing by then, and no kits to buy at all.

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@albob, Enjoyed reading this just as I walked out of the PCR I paid £98 for this morning. Oh and did I mention the non refundable Lateral Flow I’m having on Sunday morning as my back up plan in case my pcr tested positive (I’ve recently recovered). Eh oh!

After all it is free

@Guernseyfreerider, Bu**er !! : not as bad as £98, but I paid £15.50 for a LFT, only for it to go down to £12.95 the next day! (and may not need them anyway, if thing improved at the speed they currently are...!)

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seems testing requirement to enter Switzerland has been scrapped for fully vaccinated! airline just notified us, more testing money wasted!

Help!!

Switzerland Rules - Summary

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