When the number of cases over the last 14 days in a country reaches 60 per 100,000, Switzerland’s health authorities undertake a review of the situation to decide whether the country should be added to the nation’s risk list, something that triggers a mandatory quarantine requirement.

Over the 14 days to 9 September 2020, France recorded 135 infections per 100,000, a figure well above Switzerland’s infection trigger point of 60.
On 26 August 2020, France had recorded 253,587 cases of SAR-CoV-2 infection since the outbreak began in February 2020. By 9 September 2020, 14 days later, this number had increased to 344,101, a rise of 90,514 cases (+35%) over two weeks.
The Swiss government has been considering modifying its quarantine risk list system to include certain parts of France rather than the whole country. However, when the authorities updated the risk list on 7 September 2020 they did not add France or any specific French regions to it.
Geneva and Vaud rely on large daily flows of cross-border workers, so adding France to the mandatory quarantine list would be highly disruptive for those living on both side of the border. In addition, Geneva and France share an airport.
In any case infection rates have reached similar levels in the Swiss cantons of Geneva and Vaud. The rate in Vaud reached 141 per 100,000 over the last 14 days and 115 in Geneva, according to RTS. The 14-day rates in Fribourg (127) and Zurich (63) also exceed the Swiss risk level of 60.
On Wednesday, Germany added Geneva and Vaud to their list of risk areas – full list (in German). German residents are not banned from visiting these parts of Switzerland, however they are advised against doing so.
Belgium has banned its residents from travelling to the canton of Fribourg. and recommends increased vigilance when travelling to the cantons of Vaud, Bern, Geneva, Solothurn, Neuchâtel, Basel-Stadt, Zürich, Schwyz and Zug.
Update: on 11 September 2020, the Swiss authorities added 9 regions in France and Vienna in Austria to the list of high risk regions, effective from 14 September 2020. Click here to see the regions.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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