Quarantine in Switzerland: the British are secretly leaving the ski resort
Status: December 27, 2020 2:31 p.m.
Hundreds of British winter vacationers disappeared from the ski resort of Verbier in Switzerland overnight. You thus escaped quarantine because of the corona mutation. Some of them are now in France.
In Switzerland, hundreds of British tourists have escaped from an ordered quarantine. Some of them disappeared overnight.
Hoteliers in the Verbier ski resort in the canton of Valais would have noticed this because breakfast trays placed in front of the room doors had not been touched. The reported Jean-Marc Sandoz, the spokesman for the community.
Less than a dozen left
Before Christmas, quarantine was ordered in the place for 420 guests from Great Britain – including Swiss who live there. About 50 guests left immediately. Of the 370 other winter tourists, fewer than a dozen were still there in the morning.
Switzerland had all flights from Great Britain and South Africa on December 20, because in the new countries and allegedly more contagious variants of the corona virus had been detected. They ordered that all those who have arrived since December 14, retrospectively, are expected to be quarantined for ten days from the date of arrival.
“The war is unbearable”
“We understand their anger,” said Sandoz. He sharply criticized the sudden quarantine requirement for travelers from Great Britain. The municipalities received no help to implement the provisions.
Families with small children were suddenly stuck in an area of 20 square meters. It was unbearable.
The municipal administration initially tried to arrange return flights for the guests, said the municipality spokesman. But when it was clear that only those who had demonstrably waived ten days of quarantine were allowed to board should have died.
According to the authorities, there have been 92 flights from the UK with an estimated 10,000 people on board since December 14.
Fresh air in France
The situation brought major problems for the Verbier ski resort with around 9,000 inhabitants. Because around a fifth of the guests there traditionally come from Great Britain, the place was suddenly decried as a supposed Corona hotspot. “Many Swiss then canceled their vacation,” says Sandoz.
Some guests may have reported from the relevant France in the meantime. The ski stations there are closed, but the British can get some fresh air at short notice.