Switzerland temporarily lifts air travel ban to SA and UK, flights to resume 24 December
Swiss authorities have announced that it will allow flights to South Africa and Britain to resume from Thursday, allowing visitors from the two countries, where a new strain of coronavirus has emerged, to return home for Christmas.
Flight connections were suspended at midnight Sunday, December 20, but will temporarily resume from Thursday, December 24, the Swiss government said Wednesday.
The flights can also be used for Swiss nationals stranded in South Africa and Britain to return home, the announcement added.
Special transfer service
Special protective measures will be applied to people who are still in quarantine to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.
The government also said it would work with regional governments to coordinate a special transfer service.
Because of fears people returning to Switzerland may bring the new variant of coronavirus, airlines flying from Britain and South Africa have to apply for a temporary exemption from the flight ban.
Switzerland, which started rolling out a Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday, was among several countries which banned travel from South Africa and Britain because of fears over the new strain which is more infectious than previous variants.
10-day quarantine
Switzerland has also ordered South African and British visitors who arrived after December 14 to go into a 10-day quarantine.
The Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) has been tracing the mobile phones of South African and British visitors and has sent them text messages.
“Please help us to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus variant and render yourself into a mandatory 10-day quarantine counted from the date of arrival. Do not leave your room or residence and avoid all contacts,” BAG said in a tweet, asking people to call its hotline or visit its website.
In cases of non-compliance, a penalty of up to 10,000 Swiss francs (R164 352,00 ) can be imposed, BAG has warned.
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