Switzerland to be added to UK quarantine

British media is reporting that Switzerland will be added to the UK's mandatory quarantine list at the end of the week. The Times reported on Tuesday that the UK government is set to add Switzerland to its list of countries that require a mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival.

Over the past fortnight, Switzerland has had 20.7 infections per 100,000 inhabitants – which is above the UK government threshold of 20. Scotland has already added Switzerland to its mandatory quarantine list, with arrivals needing to quarantine from 22 August onwards. 

According to the Times, the UK will add Switzerland to the list when it meets on the weekend of 29 August. At a previous meeting, on August 13th, the UK elected not to add Switzerland to the list. 

The UK's own infection rate per 100,000 people is currently above that of Switzerland - at 22 per 100,000. Switzerland's threshold for requiring a mandatory quarantine is, however, much higher than that in the UK, set at 60 new infections per 100,000. 

British Airways planes at Heathrow

Will France be added to Switzerland’s quarantine list?
Amid rising infections, France has been the latest country to cross Switzerland’s coronavirus quarantine threshold. Swiss authorities are meeting to discuss placing its western neighbour on the quarantine list.

Infection rates in France have now been higher than 60 per 100,000 inhabitants over the past 14 days, exceeding the threshold for the Swiss government to deem it a ‘high risk’ country. Swiss media reports that the Federal Council will meet to decide on whether France should be placed on the mandatory ten-day quarantine list.  

As reported by The Local Switzerland on Friday, placing France on the list is problematic due to the close economic and social ties between the countries. An estimated 180,000 residents of France cross the border daily into Switzerland to work, with the majority working in Geneva, Vaud and Basel City. 

The government has not yet indicated whether it would require cross-border workers to quarantine, although special concessions have been made for cross-border workers since the start of the pandemic. 

Tens of thousands of Swiss also cross the border into France to go shopping, with a quarantine rule meaning that anyone who entered France - even if just for the purposes of shopping - would be required to quarantine for ten days upon their return. 

A representative of the Department of Economic, Social and Environmental Affairs told Swiss media outlet 20 Minutes that “shopping in France would not be possible” if a quarantine came into place.

Other countries, including the Netherlands, Libya, Lebanon and Paraguay, are also approaching Switzerland’s quarantine threshold. 

While the government said the list would be updated monthly when it was first implemented, however so far updates have been made immediately as a country crosses the threshold. As of August 25th, there are more than 50 countries with an infection rate above Switzerland’s threshold of ‘high risk’.