ESCAPE FROM THE ALPS!
In dead of night, how hundreds of desperate ski Brits told to isolate in run-up to Xmas leapt in their cars and raced for border as Swiss authorities closed in
THEY arrived expecting fresh air and freedom on the pristine slopes of an upmarket ski resort.
But instead of wide open spaces, British tourists were ordered to self-isolate for ten days after Swiss authorities in Verbier imposed a draconian coronavirus quarantine.
Faced with being imprisoned in their chalets or hotel rooms while other nations’ skiers continued their holidays, up to 400 Britons decided they had only one choice – make a break for it.
So under the cover of darkness, many slipped away for the nearby French border after enduring just one or two days in isolation.
Hoteliers started to notice their British guests were missing after spotting room service meals untouched outside their doors. Some Britons reportedly called from France to say they had left and to ask for refunds.
However their efforts to flee have come at a cost – widespread criticism and the prospect of huge fines. Others will wonder about the wisdom of going skiing during the pandemic after some resorts turned out to be the source of the first European outbreaks last winter.
However hoteliers in Verbier – dubbed ‘Little London’ because of its popularity with the British – defended their guests’ actions. They said UK tourists were unfairly stigmatised because of fears over the new mutant Covid strain found in Britain. They warned that the authorities had holidaymakers’ passport details stored in their track and trace system and could choose to enforce hefty fines of up to 10,000 Swiss francs (£8,300).
In Britain, some critics branded the British tourists ‘ irresponsible’ for travelling across Switzerland and France to return home.
A senior NHS official called for them to be reprimanded.
Andrew Davies, director of hospital pharmacy for NHS Improvement, tweeted: ‘I do hope every single one gets followed up and prosecuted!’
One of those who made the dash out of Switzerland was leading Brexiteer Andy Wigmore, 54, the former communications director for the Leave. EU campaign group.
He wrote on social media that ‘just like in The Sound of Music the Wiggy Von Traps ( sic) decided to make a run for it’ across the border from another Swiss resort, Wengen. But he later insisted he had got out before the quarantine started so had not broken the Swiss rules.
He told the Mail: ‘We were out on the slopes when a local contact messaged to say the quarantine was coming and we would be locked down.
‘We made a run for it. From slope to border was 3.5 hours, we just piled everything into a car and drove like a bat out of Hell. We managed to get over the border with 20 minutes to go before they shut it down.’
Mr Wigmore said he had seen police stopping cars and telling Britons they would need to quarantine, but insisted he and his family had made it out in time. He and his wife and their two teenage children drove to Basel and then caught trains to Strasbourg and Paris before boarding a Eurostar for London.
Mr Wigmore, who owns a holiday home in Wengen, insisted he had not broken any rules by returning to his home in Oxfordshire, and insisted his family would self-isolate there.
But he warned that holidaymakers who had broken the quarantine would probably face fines if they tried to return to Switzerland.
He said: ‘The Swiss system is very efficient, and they won’t forget. Those people who left Verbier, if they go back they will probably fine them.’
Swiss authorities initially ruled on December 20 that any British travellers who had arrived after December 14 would have to quarantine for ten days.
The rule came in alongside a blanket ban on UK travellers and the suspension of all British flights to and from Switzerland.
Shocked Britons were alerted via a text message which read: ‘Do not leave your room or residence and avoid all contacts.’
Some 420 British tourists were known to be staying in Verbier, although the true number could have been much higher.
Hoteliers were also ordered to inform the authorities if they had guests from the UK or South Africa, where another mutant strain had been found.
Around 50 British holidaymakers were thought to have fled Verbier within hours of the
‘We made a run for it’
quarantine announcement, with hundreds more leaving in the following days.
Switzerland’s home affairs minister Alain Berset told Tages-Anzeiger newspaper that the federal government was aware many had fled. He said: ‘That is of course a problem. I don’t know where they have gone. I think they just went home.’
A worker at the three-star Hotel Ermitage said their only British guest left in the early hours of Christmas morning, without telling the hotel. The employee said: ‘I called him in his room and there was no answer. The room was empty. I had his credit card details so it was no problem in terms of payment.
He had been due to stay until the 28th. These people are on holiday. I understand their position. We are a holiday resort, not a prison. I don’t blame them for leaving rather than sitting cooped up in a bedroom 24 hours-a-day.’
Another hotelier, who did not want to be named, said: ‘ We had two Britons but they left on Christmas Eve. They had arrived on the 19th for a week, and then were told they weren’t allowed to ski and had to stay imprisoned in their rooms.’
Gregoire Gogniat, a spokesman for the Swiss federal office of public health, said it was ‘unacceptable’ for people to try to ignore the quarantine.
The fleeing British skiers are believed to have used hire cars or to have paid private drivers to take them out of Switzerland. By December 23, Swiss authorities had changed their tune and said Britons were allowed to go home provided they informed local authorities about their mode of transport and completed track and trace information.
But there had already been three nights in which panicking Brits sneaked away fearing they would miss Christmas back home with their families.
Londoners Tom Waycott, 27, and Josh Pitchford, 28, decided to stay and complete their quarantine in Room 24 of the Hotel La Rotonde after arriving on December 18.
Mr Waycott, who works for a Mayfair estate agents, said: ‘It’s been quite an experience.
‘We have a balcony which has been a saviour because we are not allowed out of our room. The hotel has been brilliant and they put food outside the door for us. We have stuck to the quarantine because the fine is really hefty.
‘A friend told us about a Brit on Christmas Eve who scanned his ski lift pass, which had his name on it, at the bottom of Les Ruinettes lift and by the time he was at the top there were officials waiting for him.’
Catherine Turner, 53, from Somerset, arrived in Verbier before the quarantine and was free to continue her ski holiday.
She said: ‘You certainly feel like you have to speak in hushed tones if you’re speaking English. You do feel a bit self-conscious.
‘Everyone is very respectful of the rules. It’s not like it was Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. Anyone would think tunnels have been dug to get out of Verbier.’
Simon Wiget, the director of Verbier’s tourism office, said British skiers who had left the resort had been unfairly depicted as criminals.
He said: ‘The British must not be stigmatised.
‘ The Brits arrived in Verbier anticipating fresh mountain air but then the government told them they have to quarantine retroactively and suddenly they are stuck in a hotel room.
‘I think the vast majority of people would have believed they were acting responsibly and within the law. They discreetly went away. There was no great escape in the dead of night. They are being picked on unfairly.’
Sloped off: Andy Wigmore and his family drove ‘like a bat out of Hell’ to escape
‘They are being picked on’