The Swiss Federal Council has relaxed its rules relating to
business travellers and quarantine.
Until now,
business travellers entering the country for trips of five days or fewer who have within the previous ten days stayed
for any time in a country or area with an increased risk of infection did not have to enter quarantine.
At a meeting
on 28 October, the council lifted that five-day limit and business trips of any
length that are undertaken “for an important reason that cannot be postponed”
are now permitted.
The
council has also changed the definition it uses to decide which countries are
high-risk. It said only countries and areas with an incidence rate of Covid that is 60
higher than that in Switzerland will now be placed on the quarantine
list.
This change means that Andorra, Armenia, Belgium,
the Czech Republic and the French regions of Hauts-de-France, Ile de France and
French Polynesia have been added to its quarantine list as of today, joining
many other countries including the UK, the US and the Netherlands.
The council has also banned events attended by more than 50
people, except for parliamentary and communal assemblies.
The locations where masks must be worn has also changed.
Wearing a mask has been mandatory in publicly accessible indoor spaces as well as in
public transport waiting areas and at railway stations and airports since 19
October, but masks must now also be worn outside establishments such as restaurants
and bars and are also mandatory in busy pedestrian zones and wherever the
required distance cannot be maintained in public spaces.