[ad_1]
At least 200 Britons are said to have fled the Verbier VS ski resort to escape the ten-day quarantine – the weekend’s Sunday newspaper report made headlines around the world. Therefore, the canton and the federal government outweighed each other in accusations. Now the British hotspot’s head of tourism says: It’s all just a misunderstanding!
420 Britons were identified by Verbier VS authorities. The community spokesman said after the report that 50 of them had disappeared “immediately”, and of the 370 remaining, at most “a dozen” were already there.
Official figures are missing
That’s not true, tourism chief Simon Wiget tells BLICK: “Some people may have left Verbier, but never 200,” says Wiget. That simply cannot be verified. “We don’t have official figures on that,” says Wiget. You do not know how this communication error could have occurred.
Wiget confirms that around 400 holidaymakers from Great Britain had previously stayed at Verbier VS. And how many are there now? Wiget says: “We don’t know how many guests from Great Britain are currently in Verbier.”
Wiget throws the ball to the canton. “The canton and the canton police are responsible for controlling quarantine measures,” he says. “The canton received from the hoteliers all the registration forms for British holiday guests.”
Canton criticizes the federal government
The canton has done everything possible to enforce quarantine regulations, says the Valais government adviser, Christophe Darbellay, “20 minutes”. Britain organized return flights over the Christmas period and between 20 and 40 people were flown back to their country, the governing council told RTS on Sunday. The police carried out 200 quarantine checks throughout the canton, 40 of them in Verbier. “All the people controlled obeyed the rules,” says Darbellay.
Rather, Darbellay sees the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) under criticism. The passenger data list for the UK flights was delivered too late. That made it difficult to control the canton.
BAG sees it very differently. Spokesman Grégoire Gogniat said “20 minutes” was by no means entertained by passenger lists. The list was delivered to the canton on December 21 and the last broadcast was made on Christmas Eve. “It is up to the cantons to enforce the quarantine,” says Gogniat.
“Is there a reward?”
The British in Verbier also employ the government. When asked at Monday’s press conference, Federal Councilor Alain Berset said: “That is, of course, a problem.” But you also have to take into account that you have to take action in a very short time. Is not easy.
Meanwhile, Verbier VS has to put up with a fair amount of teasing from the internet community. Many wonder how the resort could lose control of its guests. “Are there any rewards for finding a Verbier Brit?” Asks a user on Twitter. (hac)
