Switzerland unveiled a 1 billion Swiss franc ($1.08 billion) plan on Friday to offer free coronavirus tests for its entire population as part of measures to ease the country’s exit from COVID-19 restrictions, Reuters reports.
Under the proposals each person would be given five self-test kits per months, as soon as reliable tests are available, the government said, while all tests at pharmacies and testing centres will be free of charge.
Companies and schools should carry our repeated tests
using pooled saliva samples to improve prevention and detect outbreaks early, it said. Workers at companies which test frequently could be exempt from quarantine requirements.
To ensure more testing is carried out, the government proposed to pay for the voluntary tests. It estimated the expanded testing scheme will cost more than 1 billion francs this year
