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Hundreds of British tourists forced to self-quarantine at a luxury ski resort due to fears about the most contagious new variant of COVID-19 have fled under cover of darkness, according to a report.
Around 200 out of an estimated 420 affected UK tourists who were isolated in Verbier, Switzerland, it is believed that they left at night, instead of staying indoors for more than a week and seeing their plans to hit the slopes massively disrupted.
This follows a decision by the Swiss authorities that anyone who arrived in the country from Great Britain since December 14 should remain in quarantine for 10 days.
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On December 20, Switzerland announced an entry ban for all UK travelers and suspended all flights between the UK and Switzerland, after the new variant of coronavirus it was detected in south-east England.
Then, on December 23, the Swiss government introduced an exemption, allowing flights to and from the UK from Christmas Eve to allow residents of the UK and Switzerland to return during the festive period.
Two cases of the new variant have been detected in Switzerland and one in neighboring Liechtenstein, the Swiss Health Ministry said on Sunday.
Added that two COVID-19 cases of the new variant linked to South Africa have also been discovered. Both variants are believed to be much more transmissible than the original.
Following the Swiss authorities’ quarantine measure, some of the affected British tourists in Verbier left immediately, while others held on for a bit before leaving, according to a local newspaper.
“Many of them were quarantined for a day before leaving unnoticed under cover of darkness,” Jean-Marc Sandoz, spokesman for the municipality of Bagnes, told SonntagsZeitung.
He called the whole situation “the worst week our community has ever experienced.”
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How contagious is the new variant?
Speaking about the hotel staff, Sandoz told the ATS news agency: “It was when they saw that the food trays remained intact that the hoteliers noticed that the customers had left.”
He said that according to a survey conducted Saturday at the resort’s hotels, fewer than 10 people would still be in quarantine and the rest would have either left or their isolation time would have ended.
“We can’t blame them. In most cases, the quarantine was unsustainable. Imagine four people staying in a 20-square-meter hotel room,” Sandoz added.
He said tourists had left feeling “a bit angry at Switzerland” and with the feeling of having been “trapped.”
British tourists typically make up around 20% of Verbier’s visitors, with many starting to arrive after Christmas.
