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The report made international headlines: Hundreds of British tourists are said to have fled the Swiss Crown quarantine. Now, a week later, questions have been raised about the scale of the incident.
Simon Wiget, Verbier’s director of tourism in the canton of Valais, does not believe that 200 or more people have illegally left an orderly quarantine at the site, he told the dpa news agency. First, the “NZZ am Sonntag” reported doubts.
Verbier municipal spokesman Jean-Marc Sandoz told dpa on December 27 that of the 370 identified guests who had had to be quarantined, only fewer than a dozen were there after Christmas. Five hoteliers reported on British departures that they had not checked out regularly. Three found intact breakfast trays in front of the rooms and discovered that some people had left during the night.
“It is difficult to say exactly what the situation was like”
Tourism director Wiget has now said that the 370 people were people who potentially needed to be quarantined. Cantonal authorities, who never reported figures for individual municipalities, would have had to check how many actually applied. Legally, those among the 370 could also be gone, whose quarantine obligation ended on Christmas days anyway.
“I have no information on whether people from the UK ignored the quarantine requirements or left illegally,” Wiget said. “Some people respect the requirements and others do not, but that does not mean that all members of the same group are violators of the law.” He does not think 200 or more people who are under quarantine have left. “It’s hard to say exactly what the situation was like.”
Community spokesman Sandoz said he was referring to surveys of hoteliers and tour operators. His tenure as community press spokesperson regularly ended on December 31. After his conversations with journalists on December 27, the community told him not to comment on the issue, he says. On January 1, a new mayor, Christophe Maret, took office. He declined to comment on the dpa request and referred to tourism director Wiget.
