☣ Coronavirus ☣

[Moha]

Cowards.

Hundreds of Britons flee quarantine in Switzerland – DW – 12/27/2020

About half of the Britons who were ordered to wait out their quarantine in the ski resort of Verbier have gone into hiding. Swiss authorities began to suspect something unusual when their meals were left untouched.

www.dw.com

 

[Springal]

Cowards.

Hundreds of Britons flee quarantine in Switzerland – DW – 12/27/2020

About half of the Britons who were ordered to wait out their quarantine in the ski resort of Verbier have gone into hiding. Swiss authorities began to suspect something unusual when their meals were left untouched.

www.dw.com

I don’t blame them. Many will be families and who wants to or signed up to be quarantined in a small hotel room for 10 days.

unless of course they knew what they were signing up for before they left

 

[Moha]

I don’t blame them. Many will be families and who wants to or signed up to be quarantined in a small hotel room for 10 days.

unless of course they knew what they were signing up for before they left

They knew they'll be quarantined.
I skied half day in verbier. Not that many families, mostly selfish arrogant arsholes.

 

[eclipse15]

They knew they'll be quarantined.
I skied half day in verbier. Not that many families, mostly selfish arrogant arsholes.

It’s a bit of a “to be seen” place isn’t it? Give me a small Austrian town any day of the week for all the wurst and steins

 

[Moha]

It’s a bit of a “to be seen” place isn’t it? Give me a small Austrian town any day of the week for all the wurst and steins

Has to do with some prince, who still have debts over a chalet.
For the swiss, it's about skiing; some very challenging slopes.

Verbier: le prince Andrew détient une ardoise de 8 millions de francs pour son chalet

Le prince Andrew et son ex-épouse Sarah Ferguson devaient verser 8 millions de francs le 31 décembre 2019 à l’ancienne propriétaire de leur chalet de Verbier. Aucun versement n’a été fait et le couple divorcé se trouve aux poursuites en Valais.

www.lenouvelliste.ch

 

[djedwardsmith]

I don’t blame them. Many will be families and who wants to or signed up to be quarantined in a small hotel room for 10 days.

unless of course they knew what they were signing up for before they left

How could they travel and not realise this was a possibility? It's happened to Brits travelling overseas since March, plus the advice has been not to travel at all for months now.

No sympathy, hope they got caught and heavily fined.

 

[tclubber]

They knew they'll be quarantined.

No, they didn't. The quarantine was applied retroactively (see the last sentence in the DW article).

How could they travel and not realise this was a possibility?

A quarantine being applied retroactively (after the guests have arrived and have been allowed outside for several days) and without any case among these specific guests is certainly a new thing, I think no country in the world ever did that for covid-19. I personally wouldn't have anticipated that. Although I did anticipate general disruptions and only had daytrips abroad this summer, without any overnight stays.

 

[Moha]

No, they didn't. The quarantine was applied retroactively (see the last sentence in the DW article).


A quarantine being applied retroactively (after the guests have arrived and have been allowed outside for several days) and without any case among these specific guests is certainly a new thing. I personally wouldn't have anticipated that. Although I did anticipate general disruptions and only had daytrips abroad this summer, without any overnight stays.

Those arriving 14 december onwards knew they COULD be quarantined.

 

[eclipse15]

Has to do with some prince, who still have debts over a chalet.
For the swiss, it's about skiing; some very challenging slopes.

Verbier: le prince Andrew détient une ardoise de 8 millions de francs pour son chalet

Le prince Andrew et son ex-épouse Sarah Ferguson devaient verser 8 millions de francs le 31 décembre 2019 à l’ancienne propriétaire de leur chalet de Verbier. Aucun versement n’a été fait et le couple divorcé se trouve aux poursuites en Valais.

www.lenouvelliste.ch

Dodgy geeeeezer

 

[tclubber]

Those arriving 14 december onwards knew they COULD be quarantined.

I am sorry, what changed on December 14?

Switzerland made a point of keeping both ski resorts and the borders open. Apart from "anything" being possible in the covid era in general, I don't see how anyone would "know" they could be quarantined retroactively and without any known contact with an infected person.

 

[tclubber]

Here is an interesting write up from The Economist of how Japan handled the virus (free with an email registration).

Seems not lying to own citizens paid off:

Instead, the government tried to apply the lessons of the Diamond Princess. After trained quarantine officers and nurses were infected aboard the ship, despite following protocols for viruses that spread through droplets, Mr Oshitani’s team concluded that the virus spread through the air. As early as March, Japanese officials began warning citizens to avoid the san-mitsu or “3cs”: closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings.

Back then we in the West have been told by our democratic governments that masks were useless and that the most important thing to do was to disinfect hands

Japan has suffered just 18 deaths per million people, a higher rate than in China, but by far the lowest in the g7, a club of big, industrialised democracies. (Germany comes in second, at 239.)

 

[Springal]

How could they travel and not realise this was a possibility? It's happened to Brits travelling overseas since March, plus the advice has been not to travel at all for months now.

No sympathy, hope they got caught and heavily fined.

Because it was put in place when this new outbreak was announced and back dated for arrivals for the last few days prior to that. So yes while ‘if travelling during covid anything could happen’ -rules changing when you are there and forcing you into quarantine is why I can understand why you wouldn’t hang around.

apparently the Swiss authorities are using 3G/4G tracking to confirm this and will be issuing 10k Swiss Franc fines

not surprised that Vote Leave campaign boss Andy Wigmore is one of those that has fled though ? having gone there to avoid France quarantine measures

 

[tclubber]

apparently the Swiss authorities are using 3G/4G tracking to confirm this and will be issuing 10k Swiss Franc fines

LOL, good luck with that. Aren't British SIM cards anonymous? I have a prepaid Vodafone UK card paid with cash that I use for roaming now and then - I was never required to register it with my name.

These are probably just rumors spread by the Swiss authorities to scare people into submission.

 

[Springal]

LOL, good luck with that. Aren't British SIM cards anonymous? I have a prepaid Vodafone UK card paid with cash that I use for roaming now and then - I was never required to register it with my name.

These are probably just rumors spread by the Swiss authorities to scare people into submission.

pretty difficult to get anonymous SIM cards now a days, and those that do probably aren’t skiing in upmarket resorts in Switzerland.

I’d imagine nowadays pretty much everyone uses their main SIM card / mobile phone given how good roaming tariffs are. Pre Brexit of course. And presumably people give a number to their hotels / villas or immigration when getting their covid clearance etc

 

[BenH]

Back to work for a couple of days for me tomorrow! Heading to Birmingham!

it’s going to be a real treat working away in tier 3 restrictions with no pubs or restaurants open after work! Covid needs to do 1 sharpish! Although I have a feeling that’s not happening any time soon!

I really cannot see any normality any time soon

 

[Digital2013]

Ryanair's new TV ads are making me laugh 'jabs are coming, get booking!'

I'll give that a miss for now, knowing that lot there will be added charges if you've had a different vaccine to an obscure one they have decided is the one. Priority boarding for the Oxford Vaccine etc

 

[kimajy]

Ryanair's new TV ads are making me laugh 'jabs are coming, get booking!'

I'll give that a miss for now, knowing that lot there will be added charges if you've had a different vaccine to an obscure one they have decided is the one. Priority boarding for the Oxford Vaccine etc

BBC website still suggesting there'll be no private access to any of the vaccinations and that everyone is going to just have to stand in line. There is zero prospect of travel returning in any meaningful sense, except perhaps for reward holidays for NHS staff and SAGA cruises, before late 2021 !!

 

[Hally]

BBC website still suggesting there'll be no private access to any of the vaccinations and that everyone is going to just have to stand in line. There is zero prospect of travel returning in any meaningful sense, except perhaps for reward holidays for NHS staff and SAGA cruises, before late 2021 !!

NHS staff ????????

 

[Digital2013]

BBC website still suggesting there'll be no private access to any of the vaccinations and that everyone is going to just have to stand in line. There is zero prospect of travel returning in any meaningful sense, except perhaps for reward holidays for NHS staff and SAGA cruises, before late 2021 !!

In my head I think September onwards, as by that time the elderly and sick should be jabbed and therefore it just becomes normal flu for everyone young and fit enough to shake it off.

But Ryanair are just about the last company I'd book with, they'd stick an empty flight on at 2am to & from locked down areas just to avoid giving refunds.

 

[stivi]

here's one last corona update for the balearics in the old year.

mallorca looks pretty bad regarding cases (and hospitalisations/ICU) right now (14d incidence is at 600) and it's likely restrictions will tighten further there at some point.

formentera also had a spike and since the number of inhabitants is very low, the incidence per 100k inhabitants is also really high right now. but I believe in formentera they'll have it under control pretty soon again.

menorca and ibiza look a bit better - 14d incidence is at 130 respectively 140, but also rising a little again after it had gone below 100 in ibiza in the weeks before xmas.

as everywhere in europe, it's a tricky winter as expected. and lots of people expect the worst to come in a few weeks after all the xmas and NYE/NYD reunions. the good news is, here on ibiza (as well as on the other balearic islands), vaccination (the pfizer one) starts tomorrow https://www.noudiari.es/2020/12/la-...manana-tras-el-retraso-en-el-envio-de-pfizer/

generally in spain, the government's target is to reach 60% vaccination rate (of entire population) by the middle of the summer - let's see if that's realistic. I for one hope that, as more and more elderly/vulnerable get vaccinated in the coming months, the hospitalisation/ICU/mortality rate will go down towards springtime and that then, bit by bit the restrictions will get lifted and that we get back to some sort of normalcy in the second half of 2021.

this has been the most active thread this year unsurprisingly. we've discussed, we've had keyboard fights and I'm sure it's been frustrating for everyone. let's really hope the vaccines work and that in a few months the gossip and later the review threads take priority of the forums again - fingers crossed. I for one can't wait to start talking about something else soon!