"Like a Movie, Crossing Borders" Former UK Diplomat's 'Heroic Tale' Escaping Swiss Quarantine Draws Frowns

Posted on SNS Claiming "No Wrongdoing"

View of Verbier, a Swiss ski resort / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] At a famous ski resort in Switzerland, over 200 British tourists who were subject to quarantine to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) escaped, and among them, a former diplomat from the UK sparked controversy by boasting about his escape experience like a heroic tale.

According to major foreign media on the 28th (local time), Andy Wigmore, a former diplomat, was one of the British who fled despite quarantine measures at the Verbier ski resort in Switzerland.

Earlier, Swiss authorities imposed quarantine measures on people arriving from the UK to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 variant recently discovered in the UK. Accordingly, British tourists staying at the ski resort were also subject to quarantine.

Wigmore visited the ski resort with his family during the Christmas holidays, and after the quarantine order was issued, he left the resort without permission and returned to the UK via France.

The problem arose when Wigmore later introduced his experience on his social networking service (SNS) account as a heroic story. In a post on Instagram, Wigmore said, "I did nothing wrong," and even compared himself to Captain von Trapp, the protagonist of the 1965 musical film "The Sound of Music."

He explained, "I had the best time until Switzerland decided to lock down and quarantine people," adding, "Like Captain von Trapp in the movie, I decided to run to the French border from Switzerland within three hours."

In "The Sound of Music," Captain von Trapp leads his family to escape Nazi Germany by crossing the Austrian border into Switzerland.

Meanwhile, it was reported that among 420 British tourists vacationing at the Verbier ski resort in Switzerland recently, over 200 fled after quarantine measures were imposed.

In Verbier, British tourists account for 20% of winter visitors, and the area is known locally as "Little London." According to The Guardian, 12 British tourists remain at the local resort.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.