Switzerland opens travel for vaccinated Indians without COVID-19 test; check details

After relaxing its restrictions to allow international travellers, Switzerland on Tuesday announced that citizens from nations with the 'Delta variant' like India would be allowed to enter the country without a COVID-19 test or mandatory quarantine if they were 'fully vaccinated' against the virus.

Switzerland's Federal Council of Public Health stated that people arriving from a country with 'a variant of the virus of concern', will be permitted entry as long as it is certain that their vaccination offers good protection. It is important to note that Indian travellers need to have received both shots of Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine- 'Covishield' which has been granted the EU green pass. However, those who have neither been vaccinated nor have recovered must present a negative PCR test or rapid antigen test and go into quarantine on entry.

Switzerland's guidelines for travel

The Federal Council of Public Health guidelines states, "From 1 July, the federal government works on the assumption that anyone who wants a COVID certificate will have received one. From this date, only COVID certificates will be permitted as supporting documents for the areas of application in Switzerland. This applies to cases set out in the COVID-19 Special Situation Ordinance, so e.g. events, cinemas, theatres, and restaurants if they wish to restrict entry to those who are vaccinated, have tested negative or recovered."

"In international travel and in the context of contact quarantine, alternative supporting documents are still possible," it added. Additionally, children can also be issued with a COVID certificate of testing or recovery and the certificates of all family members can be stored in a single app, according to the Council.

Opening applications for Indian travellers, the official website of the Swiss embassy in India reads, “The embassy of Switzerland in New Delhi is currently accepting all visa categories for persons arriving from third countries like India, who can prove, that they have been fully vaccinated. Booking of a prior appointment is mandatory for all application type. VFS Global Services is operational and accepting visa application at the centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin and Hyderabad.”

India reported 37,566 new cases of Coronavirus on June 29. Currently, there are 5,52,659 active cases in the country. The total number of recoveries crossed 2,93,66,601 and 907 deaths were reported in the last 24-hours. 

(With Agency Inputs)