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Coronavirus: hundreds of British tourists flee from Swiss ski resort quarantine
DPA and Agence France-Presse
Published: 9:08pm, 27 Dec, 2020
Hundreds of guests supposed to quarantine in connection with a
recently discovered mutation of the coronavirus
have disappeared from the Swiss ski resort of Verbier, which is very popular with Britons.
Some have since re-emerged in
France
, Jean-Marc Sandoz, spokesman for the municipality of Bagnes, to which Verbier belongs, said on Sunday.
Swiss authorities had identified 420 guests from
Britain
who had quarantined before Christmas. About 50 left immediately, and of the 370 others, less than a dozen were still there on Sunday, he said. “We understand their anger,” Sandoz added.
He sharply criticised the hastily and retroactively introduced quarantine requirements for people arriving from the UK.
“Families with small children suddenly got stuck on 20 square metres,” said Sandoz. “It was unbearable.”
Those who left for France will find ski resorts closed as part of the country‘s coronavirus restrictions. But they would not be confined inside as in Switzerland.
Switzerland
had stopped all flights from the Britain and South Africa on December 20 after new and suspected highly contagious variants of the coronavirus were detected in those countries.
On December 21, authorities ordered all people having arrived since December 14 to be quarantined retroactively for 10 days from their date of arrival.
In March, during the first wave of infections, Switzerland was not hit as hard by Covid-19 deaths and did not impose as strict a lockdown as some other European states. It then eased off its restrictions in stages.
From just three new cases recorded on June 1, infections rose slowly before rocketing in October, when cases, hospitalisations and deaths began doubling from week to week.
Asked about Switzerland’s mistakes, Berset told national broadcaster SRF: “There were some. In summer, we had the feeling that the worst was over. We were too loose. And then we were far too optimistic when we thought we could reopen the major events in autumn,” notably football and ice hockey matches.
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s health minister admitted that the government blundered in easing Covid-19 restrictions too far, resulting in some of Europe’s fiercest infection rates during the pandemic’s second wave.
Alain Berset said the Swiss approach put the emphasis on personal responsibility – but accepted that it had not worked.
In early November, Geneva had the worst per capita infection rates in Europe. With a population of 8.6 million, Switzerland is logging a stubbornly high rate of around 5,000 new cases and 100 deaths a day.
“The Swiss way has a price. It requires personal responsibility, reason and foresight from everyone. If that doesn’t work, we have to tighten the measures. We did that,” Berset said.
“The good thing about the current situation is that we still have reserves.”
From Tuesday, bars and restaurants began closing again across the country in a bid to rein in the outbreak.
Switzerland started its Covid-19 vaccine roll-out on Wednesday, with a care home resident in her 90s receiving the first shot just four days after the Pfizer-BioNTech jab was authorised.
“This virus won’t be gone anytime soon. It will stay, despite vaccinations and better medication,” Berset said.
- Some Britons have re-emerged in France after escaping from Verbier
- A local official criticised the hastily introduced quarantine rules for people arriving from the UK where a new virus strain was detected
DPA and Agence France-Presse
Published: 9:08pm, 27 Dec, 2020
Hundreds of guests supposed to quarantine in connection with a
recently discovered mutation of the coronavirus
have disappeared from the Swiss ski resort of Verbier, which is very popular with Britons.
Some have since re-emerged in
France
, Jean-Marc Sandoz, spokesman for the municipality of Bagnes, to which Verbier belongs, said on Sunday.
Swiss authorities had identified 420 guests from
Britain
who had quarantined before Christmas. About 50 left immediately, and of the 370 others, less than a dozen were still there on Sunday, he said. “We understand their anger,” Sandoz added.
He sharply criticised the hastily and retroactively introduced quarantine requirements for people arriving from the UK.
“Families with small children suddenly got stuck on 20 square metres,” said Sandoz. “It was unbearable.”
Those who left for France will find ski resorts closed as part of the country‘s coronavirus restrictions. But they would not be confined inside as in Switzerland.
Switzerland
had stopped all flights from the Britain and South Africa on December 20 after new and suspected highly contagious variants of the coronavirus were detected in those countries.
On December 21, authorities ordered all people having arrived since December 14 to be quarantined retroactively for 10 days from their date of arrival.
In March, during the first wave of infections, Switzerland was not hit as hard by Covid-19 deaths and did not impose as strict a lockdown as some other European states. It then eased off its restrictions in stages.
From just three new cases recorded on June 1, infections rose slowly before rocketing in October, when cases, hospitalisations and deaths began doubling from week to week.
Asked about Switzerland’s mistakes, Berset told national broadcaster SRF: “There were some. In summer, we had the feeling that the worst was over. We were too loose. And then we were far too optimistic when we thought we could reopen the major events in autumn,” notably football and ice hockey matches.
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s health minister admitted that the government blundered in easing Covid-19 restrictions too far, resulting in some of Europe’s fiercest infection rates during the pandemic’s second wave.
Alain Berset said the Swiss approach put the emphasis on personal responsibility – but accepted that it had not worked.
In early November, Geneva had the worst per capita infection rates in Europe. With a population of 8.6 million, Switzerland is logging a stubbornly high rate of around 5,000 new cases and 100 deaths a day.
“The Swiss way has a price. It requires personal responsibility, reason and foresight from everyone. If that doesn’t work, we have to tighten the measures. We did that,” Berset said.
“The good thing about the current situation is that we still have reserves.”
From Tuesday, bars and restaurants began closing again across the country in a bid to rein in the outbreak.
Switzerland started its Covid-19 vaccine roll-out on Wednesday, with a care home resident in her 90s receiving the first shot just four days after the Pfizer-BioNTech jab was authorised.
“This virus won’t be gone anytime soon. It will stay, despite vaccinations and better medication,” Berset said.
