More than 400 British tourists have “escaped” from the exclusive Swiss ski resort of Verbier after being quarantined there.
The visitors were ordered by Swiss authorities to isolate in their accommodation for 10 days after the UK announced it had discovered a highly transmissible new mutation of the coronavirus.
The discovery of the mutation, which has swept across the UK, greatly increasing COVID-19 infection rates, prompted many countries, including Switzerland, to close their borders to British visitors.
As of December 20 at midnight, Switzerland banned flights from the UK, but also imposed a retroactive quarantine.
This meant that some 420 Britons who had already arrived in the village of Verbier – one of Europe’s premier ski resorts and a popular destination for British royals – were told to return to their accommodation immediately and avoid any contact with the outside world. .
The well-to-do visitors had other ideas. On Sunday morning, hotel owners informed officials that breakfast dishes were left untouched outside of guests’ rooms and that calls to the rooms went unanswered. Daily telegram reports.
The newspaper claims that of the 420 Britons identified by authorities as being at the luxury resort when the quarantine was hastily enforced, less than a dozen were left on Sunday. Laws implemented would mean breaking the quarantine could result in a fine of up to 10,000 Swiss francs ($ 11,220).
Some guests may have left legally under a measure announced by Swiss authorities on Christmas Eve that allowed Britons to return home in quarantine if they notified regional authorities of their mode of transport.
Some of the affected British tourists in Verbier left immediately, while others put it out for a short time before giving up and fleeing, according to a local newspaper.
“Many of them remained in quarantine for a day before leaving undetected under the cover of darkness,” said Jean-Marc Sandoz, a council spokesman. Sunday newspaper.
He called the whole situation “the worst week our community has ever experienced.”
Sandoz told ATS news agency, “When they saw that the meal trays were left untouched, the hoteliers noticed that the customers were gone.”
He said he believed fewer than 10 people would still be in quarantine and the rest would have left or their isolation time would have ended, adding, “We can’t blame them. Quarantine was unsustainable in most cases. Imagine four people staying in a 20 square meter hotel room. “
Christophe Darbellay, the president of the local government, said, “There is a sense of personal responsibility. You can travel throughout Europe without having to identify yourself. The border is a sieve. “
He criticized the Swiss Federal Office of Health (FOPH), saying passenger information was delivered too late. He said, “Passenger data was missing. Our work was made unnecessarily difficult. “
The FOPH denied this, saying it had requested data from airlines for the 92 flights in the UK that had arrived since December 14, and gave the cantons the information on Wednesday.
Simon Wiget, the director of the Verbier tourist office, told me Daily telegram that the rules were confusing.
“We called all hotels and tour operators and told people traveling from the UK to report to the Swiss authorities. We identified about 350 people, but maybe there were 500 people if all second home owners and private chalet guests were included; it was impossible to be sure.
“Maybe a few people thought they escaped, but I think the vast majority would have thought they were acting within the law and responsibly. People are basically honest and don’t break the law on purpose. It’s all very confusing, even for us. The new rules have been drawn up so quickly and the situation is changing so quickly that the tourists have done what they can. “
Switzerland has been heavily criticized for keeping ski resorts open during the pandemic, with critics attributing sky-high contamination rates to the decision.