Hundreds of British tourists forced into quarantine in a luxury ski resort for fear of the new, more contagious variant of COVID-19 have fled under cover, according to a report.
It is estimated that around 200 of the approximately 420 British holidaymakers who were isolated in Verbier, Switzerland, left at night, rather than staying indoors for more than a week and seeing their plans to hit the slopes tremendously.
CANADA, JAPAN AMONG PEOPLE REPORTING INFECTIONS WITH FAST DISTRIBUTING CORONAVIRUS STREET
This follows a decision by the Swiss authorities that anyone who had arrived in Britain since December 14 had to remain in quarantine for ten days.
A policewoman and a policeman (center) ride a ski lift while patrolling the slopes and in alpine restaurants, to apply sanitary measures during the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the alpine resort of Villars- sur- te check. Ollon, Switzerland, Saturday, December 19, 2020. Police receive local support from the “civil protection”, civil protection (right), in an alpine resort. (Valentin Flauraud / Keystone via AP)
On 20 December, Switzerland announced a ban on access for all UK travelers and suspended all flights between the UK and Switzerland after the new coronavirus variant was detected in the south-east of England.
Then, on 23 December, the Swiss government introduced an exemption to allow Christmas Eve flights to and from the UK to enable residents of the UK and Switzerland to return for the holiday season.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Swiss Ministry of Health on Sunday detected two cases of the new variant in Switzerland and one in neighboring Liechtenstein.
Read more at Sky News.