Parliamentarians call on government to bear cost of Covid tests

The price of PCR and antigen tests hasn't managed to boost the Swiss vaccination rate. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

A majority in parliament has voted in favour of re-introducing free Covid tests, less than two months after the government decided to make people pay.

The government scrapped free testing for asymptomatic people in October, saying the cost to the state would be better invested in trying to encourage vaccination. At the time, it was a disputed decision in parliament, and on Thursday the issue was back, with a large majority in the House of Representatives voting in favour of the state again bearing the costs.

Backers – almost all parties across the political spectrum – say the incentive to encourage more people to vaccinate by making them pay for a test has petered out. At this point, free tests would add to the general efforts to stem the fifth wave, they say.

The centre right Radical-Liberal party, who maintain it’s not in the public interest to pay for tests for people who refuse to get the jab, was the only group to oppose the idea.

The call by parliament comes as Covid case numbers in Switzerland are at the highest point in around a year. On Thursday, a day after the 10,000-mark was passed, 9,546 new cases were reported. Deaths have also increased (18 on Thursday), while several hospitals, including in Bern and Zurich, have said they are close to capacity. The vaccination rate is steady at 67.5% of the total population.

Covid law

The testing debate also came as part of general parliamentary discussions on the Covid-19 law, the legislation underpinning the country’s pandemic response, which was approved by 62% of voters in a referendum last Sunday. Politicians on Thursday also voted in favour of further extending the law – notably the financial aid measures – to the end of 2022.

The second chamber of parliament – the Senate – is yet to discuss the extension of the law, as well as the issue of free testing. It would then fall to the government to take action. But parliament does not have the last word.

The government will meanwhile tomorrow confirm a series of new coronavirus measures proposed earlier this week, including a wider implementation of mask-wearing and re-introduced home office rules.