Test centres in Switzerland, particularly in French-speaking areas and airports, have been swamped with requests for rapid and PCR testing for people wishing to visit family or go on holiday. Business leaders have said that those who haven’t made an appointment to test must be braced for disappointment.

COVID test centres in Switzerland fully booked until New Year

Test centres have been flooded with requests for COVID PCR or rapid antigen tests. Currently, the backlog in parts of Lausanne means no appointments are available before December 28, while some areas of Geneva are fully booked until January 3.

As the majority of nations now require a COVID test before travel, those who want to get away for the Christmas holidays are all searching for COVID tests at the same time, leading to excessively high demand. There is even concern that global demand for tests may lead to shortages in the future.

Families test for COVID before meeting for Christmas

Fabrice Eggly, Director of Communications at the testing service m3 GROUPE - the company that does testing in Geneva - said they are dealing with more and more positive COVID tests. He says every positive rapid test must be double-checked by a PCR, which is slowing down appointments for everyone else.

It’s not only those who wish to travel, as new COVID restrictions announced by the government have mandated testing in some settings. In addition, some people are taking COVID tests to make sure that they are safe to visit their families this Christmas.