Manolle kaadu.....andaru ante.......British tourists 'fled' Swiss ski resort quarantine

[Spartan]

British tourists fled the Swiss ski resort of Verbier "clandestinely" under cover of darkness rather than submit to a new quarantine imposed on UK visitors, a local official said on Monday.

Switzerland is one of dozens of countries to have banned travel from the UK over a new, potentially more transmissible coronavirus variant, linked to a recent surge in cases in England, was reported in the UK.

 

On December 21, the Swiss Federal Council imposed an entry ban and a retroactive 10-day quarantine period on all travelers from the UK and South Africa -- which has detected another new variant -- meaning anyone who entered Switzerland from the two countries since December 14 is required to quarantine.

 

"Some British tourists left immediately, while others decided to stay a little longer. Some of them fled clandestinely during the night," Jean-Marc Sandoz, spokesman for the town of Bagnes, some 20 minutes away from Verbier, told CNN.

 

"They left ... as soon as they found a way back to their homes," he added, noting that the exact number of tourists who left the resort has not been confirmed.

According to Sandoz, 370 UK holidaymakers were recorded as being required to comply with the 10-day quarantine order.

"Some of them had to leave for France, because planes for the UK are suspended in Switzerland," Sandoz said.

"You can't blame them. In most cases the quarantine was unbearable. Imagine staying with four people in a hotel room of 20 square meters, and they had to pay for staying at a Swiss ski resort," he added.

[Spartan]

Eight more returnees from the United Kingdom have tested positive for Covid-19 and over 75 persons whom they contacted after arrival were sent into quarantine. The returnees were mostly students and professionals.

Altogether 16 persons who tested positive for Covid-19 so far are at isolation wards in different hospitals in the state. Their samples have been collected and sent for tests to check for the new strain. Health officials expect the results will be known in two days as the genome sequencing is being carried out at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology here.

 

 

Health officials stressed there’s no need for panic. If the variant virus is found in any returnee, proper treatment is at hand. The health infrastructure is ready to deal with the emerging Covid-19 situation, they said.

A total of 1,200 people have returned to Telangana state from the UK in recent times. So far, 926 have been tested.

Dr G. Srinivas Rao, director of public health, urged those who have come directly to the state from the UK after December 9 to report to the local authorities. Carrying out medical tests for them is important. Those who are testing negative are also being quarantined and they must report immediately in case of any symptoms.

 

 

Health officials state that more than 300 people have returned to Hyderabad from the UK since December 9. Officials are tracing and tracking them.

The district-wise break-up of the infected flyers: four each from Hyderabad and Medchal Malkajgiri districts; two from Jagtial district and one each from Mancherial, Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy, Sangareddy, Siddipet and Warangal Urban districts.