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Hundreds of British tourists who had to isolate themselves at a Swiss ski resort have reportedly broken the quarantine and their whereabouts are unknown.
Switzerland has banned the British from entering the country following the emergence in the UK of a new strain of coronavirus believed to be highly infectious.
But those who arrived before the ban, or after December 14, were asked to self-isolate for 10 days to limit the possible spread of the new strain in the Alpine country.
According to local media, around 200 of the more than 400 British tourists in Verbier went out during the night between Saturday and Sunday.
“Many of them remained in quarantine for a day before going undetected under the cover of darkness,” Jean-Marc Sandoz, spokesman for the municipality of Bagnes, told the Sunday newspaper Newspaper.
According to AFP, Sandoz later said there were now fewer than a dozen left in the compound, and some had crossed the border into France.
Hoteliers reportedly noted that guests had secretly left when calls to rooms went unanswered and meals left outside the doors were not touched.
Switzerland, which faces its own spike in Covid cases, last week ordered the closure of restaurants, bars, cultural venues and sports facilities.
The closures will last until January 22 because “hospitals and healthcare workers have been under extreme pressure for weeks and the holiday period increases the risk of an even faster rise in cases,” the government said in a statement. .
“The coronavirus is not going to let us go during this vacation. The situation remains critical. That is why stricter measures have been decided, ”Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga said at a press conference.
“Now we need all of Switzerland,” said Ms Sommaruga after acknowledging that some regions were more hesitant than others about the new restrictions.
Additional reports from AP
