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FYI—Swiss gov. Aug. 25 meeting details

Hi everyone—

The Swiss gov. met today on the Covid situation. They are considering the expansion of the Covid certification, which is currently used only for large events.

Here are some details from the press release:

The Federal Council proposes to extend the current certificate
requirement in discos and dance halls to all indoor areas of
restaurants, bars and clubs.

Certificates should still not be required on terraces and other
outdoor areas.

In addition, access is to be restricted to people with a Covid
certificate for events that take place indoors (concerts, theater,
cinema, sporting events, private events such as weddings).

Access to places such as museums, zoos, fitness centers, climbing
halls, indoor swimming pools, aquaparks, thermal baths, billiard halls
or casinos is now to be restricted to people with a certificate.

The full press release can be found here:

https://www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen/bundesrat.msg-id-84845.html

There was no mention of changes to the current entry requirements.

Posted by
2633 posts

Here’s the link to Laurel’s post on her experience with getting the certificate:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/switzerland/getting-a-covid-immunity-card-in-swiss-canton

Each canton has its own procedure on how to get the certificate. Some info. can be found here:

https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/de/home/krankheiten/ausbrueche-epidemien-pandemien/aktuelle-ausbrueche-epidemien/novel-cov/covid-zertifikat.html

Link to the websites for the cantons here:

https://bag-coronavirus.ch/zertifikat/wie-erhalte-ich-ein-covid-zertifikat-und-wie-verwende-ich-es/#contents1

This is my personal opinion only: As the expansion of the certificate has not yet been approved I’m not going to worry about it. I leave on Sept. 2. My guess, again only my opinion, is that there would eventually be a procedure in place for tourists to apply for the certificate OR the US vaccine card would be accepted. I’ll post if I hear any details on this. But, I want to try to prevent people from freaking out like with the French pass. 😊 Everything will work out. And to reiterate, the certificate has not yet been expanded, so it is not currently needed.

Posted by
888 posts

Thanx Carrie. We leave in 2 days. Pretty well packed though I do keep vascillating on a couple of items. Plenty of masks of different types.

Posted by
56 posts

Thanks Carrie for your calm voice of reason. We leave in 2 days for France and will be in Switzerland beginning 7 September. Travel planning and prep is always a challenge, but adding changing Covid protocols really adds to the stress! We have appreciated your insights throughout the past few months.

Posted by
2633 posts

Cj and Diane, safe travels and have a great trip!! I finally filled out the entry forms and forms for France (no passes yet) and Germany as we have day trips planned. I went to the store and loaded up on gossip magazines for the plane and starbucks gift cards for the flight crew (I read about brining small gifts for them and thought what a great idea). Waiting a few more days on the weather to see if I need more short sleeve or long sleeve shirts. I'm hoping for cooler weather.

Posted by
647 posts

Carrie, once again thanks for informing all of us who are headed to Switzerland on the latest government meeting concerning COVID. I didn't even realize they were meeting today.
I hope you will travel to the same country as us next year, so you could once again inform other travelers. Have an awesome trip. You've picked a beautiful country for your first trip abroad.

Posted by
561 posts

The main thing that impacts our trip would be the museum restriction. So is this just suggestion/proposal that museums should require a covid certificate or something going into force now or shortly?

Posted by
4616 posts

Carrie, thanks, I thought the Swiss gov't update was Sept 1, and worried something would change mid-air. Keeping fingers crossed this will happen. Do I pack yet? Don't want to jinx things.
Safe travels to all!

Posted by
2633 posts

Carol, thanks and the next trip is Italy in March (hopefully). The gov. was scheduled to discuss covid next week, but due to the increasing numbers, discussed today.

Rob, you currently do not anything to enter any of the museums. My understanding from my research over the last several months is this: The Swiss gov. puts forth a proposal and then gives the cantons a chance to discuss/consider. Then, at a later date, the proposals are voted on. And after they adopt a proposal, they usually announce a date some point in the future when the changes will start. It seems as if the Swiss gov. typically meets on Wednesdays. They are scheduled to meet again next Wednesday, Sept. 1. I am not sure if they will be voting then on the certificates or if they will wait to vote only if the number of covid cases continue to increase. But again, it’s just a proposal at this time. I will report if there are any changes at the Sept. 1 meeting.

Pat, I wasn’t expecting the meeting either until next week. I’m glad I checked first thing this morning. This is me speculating, but the Swiss gov. seems good about giving advance notice. So, my speculation is they might give people some time to get the vaccine before the covid certificates are expanded. And my hope would be that any change to the entry requirement would also come with some advance warning. So, maybe start packing, but don’t zip up the suitcase just yet. 😊