Dear Franklin Community,
Welcome to the third week of the semester!
Today, the Swiss federal government announced that they will significantly extend the situations where a COVID certificate is required. Starting September 13, 2021, a COVID Certificate will be required in Switzerland for entrance to the following:
- Indoor areas of restaurants, bars, and clubs including the on-campus Dining Hall and Grotto. Certificates will not be required for outdoor areas of these venues. Clubs will also register your contact information.
- Indoor events including concerts, theatre, cinema, sporting events, and private events (this includes all indoor co-curricular programs and events at Franklin).
- Indoor cultural and leisure facilities such as the Tone Athletic Center (TAC) and other fitness centers, Grace and Fowler Libraries, museums, zoos, climbing halls, swimming pools, water parks, spas, billiard halls, and casinos.
- Indoor sporting and cultural activities such as training sessions or music and theatre rehearsals.
Franklin is designing customized plans to comply with the COVID Certificate requirement in on-campus venues – more information will be shared in the coming days.
Individuals entering without a COVID certificate will be liable to a CHF 100.- fine. The extension of the certificate requirement is limited to January 24, 2022. The federal government may, however, revoke the provision at any time should our hospitalizations and infection rates improve significantly.
Additionally, starting October 1, 2021, individuals will need to bear the costs of the COVID tests required to obtain a COVID certificate. This includes COVID tests for travel, event attendance, or other personal reasons. Individuals with symptoms and people who cannot be vaccinated for documented health reasons will continue to have COVID tests paid by the Swiss authorities.
The COVID certificate is a way of documenting that you have been vaccinated for COVID-19, recovered from COVID-19, or have a negative COVID-19 test result. The entire Franklin community is strongly encouraged to download the Swiss COVID Certificate App on a smartphone for a convenient way to demonstrate their situation for entry to certain venues and events. Anyone with a QR code for their European Green Pass can use it in Switzerland.
Individuals can request to have foreign COVID-19 vaccinations validated in Switzerland in order to receive a document with a QR code that can be entered into the COVID Certificate App. The validation instructions are available on this site (click on the COVID Related Apps in blue towards the bottom of the page). New students will need to wait until their Swiss Residence Permit is issued.
Important COVID Related Apps:
Swiss COVID App – this app is required for all students, faculty, and students to facilitate contact tracing. Your participation will help keep our community healthy and safe.
COVID Certificate App – stores COVID vaccination certificate, COVID recovery certificate, and COVID test results with a QR code.
COVID Check – used to scan a QR code to verify that a document is authentic.
Wearing a mask is more important than ever! It is integral to keeping our community healthy and allowing us to continue the in-person Franklin experience.