Under cover of darkness, hundreds of skiers secretly escaped from COVID-19 quarantines at a resort in the Swiss Alps

• More than 400 British tourists in Verbier, a popular ski resort in the Swiss Alps, were told to quarantine for 10 days as authorities sought to control the spread of a new coronavirus variant recently discovered in the UK.
• But the British holidaymakers quickly began to disappear. By Sunday, fewer than a dozen remained, authorities told the German news outlet Deutsche Welle.
• Hoteliers in the Alpine village realized something was wrong when meals were left outside rooms uneaten and phones went unanswered, The Guardian reported.
• "Many of them stayed in quarantine for a day before they set off unnoticed under cover in the darkness," said Jean-Marc Sandoz, a representative for the municipality of Bagnes in Canton Valais.

Hundreds of British tourists secretly left a Swiss ski resort after authorities told them to quarantine to stop the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus.

Authorities in the Alpine village of Verbier, popular with British skiers, told about 400 holidaymakers there on December 21 that they had to quarantine for 10 days if they had arrived from the UK since December 14.

That triggered a secret exodus of tourists who had hoped to spend Christmas on the slopes. Fifty left immediately, and by Sunday fewer than a dozen remained, authorities told the German news outlet Deutsche Welle.

Hoteliers in the mountain village realized something was wrong when meals were left outside rooms uneaten and phones went unanswered by the British guests, The Guardian reported, citing a report in the Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung.

Some of the tourists later contacted the hotels to see whether they still had to pay for their abandoned rooms, the Guardian report said.

"Many of them stayed in quarantine for a day before they set off unnoticed under cover in the darkness," said Jean-Marc Sandoz, a representative for the municipality of Bagnes in Canton Valais, which includes Verbier, according to Deutsche Welle.

Because of the fear of a highly transmissible coronavirus variant, there is "xenophobic resentment" against British visitors who were once welcomed in Verbier, SonntagsZeitung reported, according to The Guardian.

Reports of the new coronavirus strain have prompted panic in Europe and beyond. The new variant of the virus, which might be up to 70% more transmissible, was first detected in the UK in September but has spread rapidly. As a result, some countries have closed their borders to UK travelers.