13 Mar 2020 Geneva, Switzerland - Swiss authorities have raised the alert level in Switzerland, for COVID19. There are over one thousand (1000) confirmed cases of COVID-19 within Swiss borders.
In addition to previous restrictions, the Federal Government has made the decision to impose sweeping measures, including the closure of schools across Switzerland, with immediate effect, until 4 April 2020. Among other new measures, international border controls may be enforced during this suspension of the Schengen Agreement, on a case by case basis.
We ask the community to seek further information from https://www.ge.ch/en/new-covid-19-cornavirus-ex-ncov, and www.bag.admin.ch, for appropriate guidance.
In this regard, the Philippine Mission to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva and the Philippine Consulate General, Geneva will be implementing Phase 2 of its preparatory measures for COVID19, beginning on 16 March 2020.
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Phase 2: Increased vigilance - Consular Services on a Restricted basis. - Services will be available only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, between the hours of 10am – 3pm. - Appointment is mandatory - All transactions will be entertained on appointment-basis only. Walk in services will no longer be entertained. - Setting an appointment - We will be instituting an electronic appointment system, to enable social distancing practices (2 meters apart, face to face transactions of 15 minutes or less), and limit the number of persons in the Consular area at any given time. - For an appointment for consular and other services, please click on the link below. - Availability of slots - Applicants will be asked to provide their contact information, select their transactions, and choose a timeslot. Once selected, slots are automatically blocked. - Limited slots per day - There are only 5 slots made available per day (15 slots per week). Please let us know 24 hours in advance if you will be unable to make your appointment, so we can make the slot available for others. - For questions, please call us at 022-716-1930, 022-9001395 or 079-1369114, send us an email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or reach out to us through our FB page (Philippine Mission to the United Nations and Consulate General in Geneva). |
The Philippine Mission to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva and the Philippine Consulate General, Geneva ask the Filipino communities in Geneva and Vaud to follow the guidance and advice given by national and local public health authorities on how to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.
We reiterate our call to the community to:
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Protect yourself and Others Practice social distancing measures. FOPH advices that face to face transactions be limited to 15 minutes or less, and that persons maintain a distance of 2 meters apart. If you are unwell, stay home! Call your health care professional, the COVID Hotline (+41(0) 58 463 0000, or Medical Emergency Switzerland 114. The symptoms of COVID-19 include fever tiredness, and dry cough. According to the WHO “anyone with even a mild cough or low-grade fever (37.3 C or more) needs to stay at home.” Our personnel and our clientele include persons who have an elevated vulnerability to COVID-19, meaning they are above 60 years of age, or have underlying health conditions. Exposure to the virus can have serious consequences. In line with guidance from public health authorities, clients who visit the Consulate while exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID-19 will be asked to go into temporary isolation within the premises, while the response from Medical Emergency Services are awaited. As a further consequence of possible infection, all services will be suspended for at least five (5) days while personnel of the Consulate General go into self-isolation; and, premises are disinfected. Such a situation would put undue strain on our ability to provide public service. To enable us to maintain services for all, we urgently appeal to members of the community to be mindful and responsible for themselves and for others.
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We will continue to update the community on developments. We assure the community that assistance, to the extent possible, will be provided by the Philippine government to nationals in need. END