Will tests no longer be valid for Switzerland’s Covid certificate?
Swiss experts are considering excluding people who test negative to coronavirus from the Covid certificate, thereby adopting a '2G' rather than the current '3G' approach.
The certificate has been issued to all those who were vaccinated, recovered, or were tested negative.
But now Switzerland’s Covid-19 Task Force is debating delivering Covid certificates only to people who have been vaccinated or recovered from the disease, excluding those who test negative.
EXPLAINED: How to get Switzerland’s Covid certificate with a negative test
This would be called the 2G strategy: Geimpft, Genesen (which translated from German means vaccinated, recovered).
The third G of the strategy, Getestet, (tested) would be dropped, as is already the case in much of Austria and some German cities.
This option would be adopted only if the epidemiological situation worsens, according to Tanja Stadler, head of the Task Force.
"Despite the 3G rule, outbreaks of contagion can arise from major events, such as during the Euro football," in the summer, she told Swiss tabloid Blick.
"Tests are never 100 percent certain. The more people who have been tested are on site, the greater the risk of outbreaks."
As The Local Switzerland has previously reported, the free Covid testing scheme costs approximately CHF4 million per day.
This strategy of switching to the 2G rule had already been discussed this summer.
At the time, Patrick Mathys, head of the crisis management section at the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) pointed out that the Covid certificate could be reserved only for the vaccinated and cured.
"It's up to the Federal Council to decide”, he said.
READ MORE: Who will continue to get free Covid tests in Switzerland after October 10th?
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The certificate has been issued to all those who were vaccinated, recovered, or were tested negative.
But now Switzerland’s Covid-19 Task Force is debating delivering Covid certificates only to people who have been vaccinated or recovered from the disease, excluding those who test negative.
EXPLAINED: How to get Switzerland’s Covid certificate with a negative test
This would be called the 2G strategy: Geimpft, Genesen (which translated from German means vaccinated, recovered).
The third G of the strategy, Getestet, (tested) would be dropped, as is already the case in much of Austria and some German cities.
This option would be adopted only if the epidemiological situation worsens, according to Tanja Stadler, head of the Task Force.
"Despite the 3G rule, outbreaks of contagion can arise from major events, such as during the Euro football," in the summer, she told Swiss tabloid Blick.
"Tests are never 100 percent certain. The more people who have been tested are on site, the greater the risk of outbreaks."
As The Local Switzerland has previously reported, the free Covid testing scheme costs approximately CHF4 million per day.
This strategy of switching to the 2G rule had already been discussed this summer.
At the time, Patrick Mathys, head of the crisis management section at the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) pointed out that the Covid certificate could be reserved only for the vaccinated and cured.
"It's up to the Federal Council to decide”, he said.
READ MORE: Who will continue to get free Covid tests in Switzerland after October 10th?
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