“It disappears like smoke”… ‘Mutant Virus Quarantine’ Over 200 British people fleeing at night?

23rd A resort in Verbier in southwest Switzerland, a world-class ski resort. The staff were surprised to find a room when a group of British tourists stayed here the day before did not answer the phone call. This is because 200 of the 420 British people who were ordered to quarantine from the authorities to prevent the spread of the mutant virus have vanished. Each room was filled with traces of night escape so that even food delivered by room service was left untouched.

According to the Guardian and others, on the 21st, the Swiss Ministry of Health has issued an order to self-isolate for 10 days after the 14th of this month for entrants from England. This was the result of judging that urgent quarantine measures were necessary when a mutant virus, which is more than 70% more contagious than the existing virus, was discovered in the UK. The measure also applied to British tourists staying at Verbier’s resorts. They were told that they should be quarantined for 10 days in a hotel room of 20 square meters (about 6 pyeong).

About 200 British people who secretly left the hostel on the 23rd did not even go through check-out to avoid being noticed. The authorities have tried to find out where they are, but they have no income. In particular, it has been confirmed that some of these have already left Switzerland and crossed over to nearby France. In this aftermath, the whole of Europe was overturned. Even though countries around the world are struggling to block the mutant virus from the UK, accusations are pouring out that British tourists have acted irresponsibly that is not suitable for citizens of developed countries. However, some point out that only tourists cannot be blamed. An employee at the resort told Sky News, “It is impossible for four people to be quarantined for 10 days in a small hotel room. “The fact that tourists were angry with the Swiss government also affected the quarantine.” It is interpreted that the xenophobia sentiment toward British tourists also influenced their escape from the group, such as those who speak English locally are suspected of being confirmed. The Swiss government warned that it would impose a fine of 100 Swiss francs (about 120,000 won) on people crossing the border, which was closed for the prevention of Corona 19 in April this year. The British government also agreed to fines 1,000 pounds (about 1.5 million won) at first for those who were notified of contact with infected people from the authorities in September and up to £10,000 (about 15 million won) for repeated violations. Accordingly, it is also possible that the British who fled to return to Korea will face significant fines from both governments.

In recent years, considerable conflicts have arisen in Europe over the issue of opening and managing ski resorts. Last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed that the ski resorts of the entire European Union (EU) be closed to prevent the spread of Corona 19. However, the agreement was not reached due to strong opposition from Switzerland and Austria, which have high ski tourism income.

France recently set a policy that allows the opening of ski resorts in its country, but not to use lifts where people sit tightly. For this reason, Le Monde reported that both the skiers and those who requested the closure of the ski resort for quarantine were complaining.

Paris = Correspondent Yunjong [email protected]Go to reporter page>
Reporter Lim Bom [email protected]