Passengers travelling to Switzerland from Malta will have to quarantine for 10 days, even if they produce a negative COVID-19 result on arrival.

Swiss authorities have listed Malta as a country with an increased risk of infection resulting in the island being added to its orange list.

If anyone would’ve been in Malta – or any other country currently on Switzerland’s orange list – at any point in the 14 days before arrival, they will need to go into quarantine for 10 days.

Anyone who fails to quarantine upon entry into Switzerland will be punished with a fine of up to CHF 10,000, which is just over €9,000.

A negative test does not exempt you from a mandatory period. “This is because a negative test result does not rule out an infection with the new coronavirus,” the statement issued by FOPH explains. Only transit passengers who have spent less than 24 hours in a high-risk country are exempted.

Mandatory quarantine for Malta arrivals will begin on August 20th.

Switzerland is just the latest of several European countries that have red-listed Malta.

On the other hand, local health authorities have just introduced an amber-list in which three countries (Romania, Bulgaria and parts of Spain) are deemed as high-risk with arrivals from the destinations needing to produce a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours prior to arriving.

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