Swiss accelerate reopening, allow large events with 'COVID certificates'

Switzerland will allow large concerts or sporting events topping 10,000 people starting on Saturday, provided attendees can produce so-called COVID certificates showing they are vaccinated, have recovered from COVID-19 or tested negative.

The plan, announced on Wednesday by the government, puts Switzerland at Europe's vanguard of back-to-normal efforts and aligns with the country's "lockdown light" strategy, balancing protecting its economy with pandemic-related health measures.

Mask-wearing outdoors will no longer be required, restaurant seating will be unlimited and discos and dance clubs can re-open, although entry will be restricted to those with COVID-19 certificates.

"Just like at all facilities whose access is restricted to persons with a COVID-19 certificate, there is no mask requirement," the government said in a statement.
For events where no COVID certificate is required, attendance will be limited to 1,000 people when there is seating, or 250 people indoors and 500 people outdoors if there is no seating arrangement.

Switzerland's re-opening plan accelerates previous proposals that foresaw allowing 5,000-person events in July and 10,000-person events come August 20.

Starting Saturday, Switzerland will also ease travel from European countries, the United States, Albania and Serbia, aiming to help the pandemic-hit tourism sector just as the summer travel season begins. Health measures on the border will concentrate only on those countries where variants of concern are spreading.

The more-transmissible Delta variant, initially documented in India, is gaining a foothold and is expected by the World Health Organisation and other nations to be the dominant strain within months.

"Vaccinated and recovered people... can enter without the obligation to test or quarantine, as long as it is certain that the vaccination offers good protection," the government said, adding others must be tested and go into quarantine.

More than 700,000 people in Switzerland and Liechtenstein have been infected with COVID-19, and more than 10,000 have died of it, public health data show.

Reuters