The Federal Government imposes quarantine on travellers from 29 countries

An obligatory quarantine will now apply to persons travelling from the following countries

All travellers who have been present in one of the following countries in the last 14 days will have to immediately go into a 10-day quarantine on entering Switzerland.

Travellers must report to the responsible cantonal authority at the beginning of the quarantine. Anyone who violates the duty can be punished with a fine. According to the Epidemic Act, this can amount to a maximum of CHF 10,000.
It is not allowed to leave your accommodation during quarantine - not even to take a breath of fresh air.

Federal Government places Sweden and Serbia on the Corona Index
The Confederation relies on the Corona Index for several European countries, including Serbia and the Schengen state of Sweden. Anyone who enters Switzerland from a risk country must be quarantined for ten days.

A total of 29 countries are on the list published on Thursday. Health Minister Alain Berset had already announced the day before that Sweden could be one of the risk countries.

Sweden is part of the Schengen area. Since mid-June, these countries have been completely open to travel. Sweden, however, had chosen a special route in the fight against the Corona pandemic and largely refrained from restrictions. Now the country is facing high numbers of cases.

Tourism hotspots
A quarantine also applies to entry from Serbia, Kosovo and Northern Macedonia, the USA, Russia, Brazil, Argentina and numerous Gulf states. The list of risk countries also includes tourism hotspots such as Israel, South Africa and Cape Verde.

Entry does not have to take place directly: those who have been in one of the affected countries must be in quarantine.

The Federal Council adopted the new border regime on Wednesday. In the regulation, it now also specifies the criteria for risk countries: countries in which the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants has been more than 60 in the last 14 days.

Exception for people in transit
The index also includes countries where information for a reliable risk assessment is missing or from which repeatedly infected persons have entered Switzerland in recent weeks. The list is kept according to the development.

Excluded from the quarantine obligation are, for example, lorry drivers, train personnel, aircraft crews, health workers or persons in transit. The persons concerned must report to the cantonal authorities after entering the country and follow their instructions.

On Wednesday, the Federal Council also decided on a mask requirement for public transport. This does not apply to children under the age of 12. Exceptions are also possible for persons who, for example, cannot wear face masks for medical reasons. The regulation does not provide for fines for non-compliance with the mask-wearing obligation.