Switzerland plans to ease curbs for vaccinated foreign tourists

Switzerland plans to ease entry restrictions for vaccinated foreign tourists unless they come from a country where a "worrying variant" of the novel coronavirus is circulating, the Federal Council, the country's highest executive body, said.

The easing of entry restrictions, expected to be in force as of June 28, is among several proposals the Federal Council announced at Friday's press conference.

The proposals are subject to consultation and the Federal Council will take its final decision on June 23, reports Xinhua news aency.

The quarantine requirement "must be lifted for people in the Schengen area", the Federal Council said, adding that a PCR test remains mandatory only for people who have not been vaccinated or whose cure has not been confirmed.


For third countries outside the Schengen area, vaccinated persons will be allowed to enter the Alpine country, while non-vaccinated people will need a PCR test followed by a mandatory quarantine.

The Federal Council did not specify which vaccines would be accepted, as only the ones from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have been endorsed by Swissmedic, the surveillance authority for medicines and medical devices.

Stronger requirements might still apply to countries with "worrying variants", such as the Delta strain which is now circulating in several countries across the globe.-IANS