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“Yes, mistakes have occurred there,” Anschober said. Many of the criticisms of the expert report are “understandable” to him. These would affect “mainly” the state of Tyrol, but also things that fall under the federal government. From today’s perspective, the criticism is partly understandable, but it was also challenging work at the time. The authorities have achieved a lot, but they have also learned a lot. “We take this investigative report absolutely seriously,” said the Health Minister. The process of implementing the recommendations of the expert commission has already started and will now be implemented accordingly in cooperation with the State of Tyrol.
Anschober noted that there was an “exceptional special situation” from early to mid-March. At that time there was less information or sometimes different information from experts, such as the mask requirement. Their attitudes and views on individual measures also changed in the course of the pandemic. The time factor and speed are a great challenge during a pandemic. However, the numbers showed that Austria weathered the pandemic comparatively well. “I am proud of everyone who contributed to this.”
“As important as looking back is … it is crucial to see where we are now.” According to Anschober, a difficult phase is now beginning again. Almost a third of the new infections were reported in Europe. For this reason, for example, much more testing personnel are required to increase the speed of contact tracing. The goal is “that we now take the appropriate measures so that a second lockdown is not necessary,” Anschober said.
As NEOS health spokesperson Gerald Loacker had previously said in the reasoning of the request, thanks to the expert report on the Ischgl case, it is now “in black and white” that errors have occurred at all levels, that is , federal, state and local authorities. The state parliament should clarify what went wrong in Tyrol, Loacker said: “We are seeing what went wrong in the federal government.” In this sense, the commission of experts also lists a series of errors, such as a “very old” epidemic law or the lack of anti-pandemic plans. But even the “slippage” of the Federal Chancellor, who was not actually responsible, without the knowledge of the responsible authorities, caused chaos.
