Subscribe to our daily news digest
Travellers from all countries will soon be able to enter Switzerland without having to follow any COVID-19 rules as the latter will drop all of its measures on May 2.
According to the most recent update that has been made by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration, starting from May 2, all travellers, regardless of their country of origin, will be permitted restriction-free entry to Switzerland, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“The entry restrictions currently in place will be lifted from May 2. As of that date, the usual rules for entering Switzerland will apply,” the statement of the State Secretariat for Migration reads.
Currently, all travellers are required to hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate in order to be permitted restriction-free entry to Switzerland.
However, as soon as the new entry rules start applying, travellers will no longer be required to hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate.
The Swiss authorities have explained that from May 2, travellers will only be required to follow the other rules, such as holding a valid passport or visa, if such a requirement applies to them.
It is believed that the Swiss authorities decided to take such a decision after taking into account the infection and vaccination rates.
The World Health Organization (WHO) shows that Switzerland has reported just over 14,500 new COVID-19 infection cases in the last seven days.
As for the vaccination rates, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health reveals that Switzerland has administered a total of 15,664,046 vaccine doses as of April 19. In addition, the same reveals that 69.13 per cent of the entire population has completed primary vaccination, and another 42,84 per cent has received an additional vaccine dose.
Switzerland has already lifted all of its domestic COVID-19 restrictions. The government decided to drop the remaining restriction on April 1. Since then, travellers, as well as citizens of Switzerland, have not been required to wear a face mask when attending different public places, events, and public transport.
In addition, the country has also lifted the requirement for inbound travellers to provide a vaccination, recovery, or test certificate.
Similar to Switzerland, Greece will also drop all of its restrictions on May 2. The Minister of Health of Greece, Thanos Plevris, said earlier this month that his country would no longer apply entry rules to incoming travellers as of May 2.
The Minister explained that all travellers, regardless of their country of origin, will be exempt from the recovery to present a valid COVID Pass – a vaccination, recovery, or test certificate – upon their arrival in Greece.