Back to the future: tests are again being required of travellers from China to Italy.
Keystone / Matteo Bazzi
Authorities say they have no plans to introduce Covid entry requirements for travellers from China, where case numbers are rising sharply. But Switzerland is still watching for a decision at the European level.
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Por ahora, Suiza no impondrá restricciones a viajeros de China
The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) said on Friday there was no indication that the Covid-19 situation in China posed a threat to the Swiss health system. As such, there are no plans to introduce special measures for Chinese visitors, it told the Keystone-SDA news agency.
The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), responsible for the borders, added that Switzerland would coordinate its position with that of the European Union (EU).
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Coronavirus: the situation in Switzerland
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An overview of the latest Covid-related information in the Alpine nation.
Faced by the rapid outbreak of coronavirus infections in China over the past weeks, various countries have brought in rules requiring travellers to present a negative test, including the US, India and Japan.
In Europe, so far Italy and Spain have announced entry requirements. At the EU level no further action has been taken. A meeting of the 27 member states next week will discuss the issue further, Keystone-SDA writes.
Meanwhile the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has said a negative test requirement is, in its view, unnecessary.
The president of the Swiss scientific advisory group, Tanja Stadler, said on Thursday that travel restrictions would have only a marginal impact on the situation in Europe, given the currently high prevalence of the virus. The risk of a dangerous new variant arriving is also low, although not to be ruled out, Stadler told Swiss public television SRF.
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