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The third lockdown in Austria will not affect the country’s ski lifts. PHOTO: Pixabay
Two days before the start of the third closure in Austria due to the coronavirus, the authorities allowed the opening of more than 400 ski resorts in the country, reported AFP.
Earlier this month, the government announced that it would allow the complexes to open on December 24 and was good on its word, despite a third closure announced last week.
The authorities believe that, as an outdoor sport, skiing is completely safe if all precautions are taken.
However, hotels, bars and restaurants will remain closed, which means that mainly locals will have access to the slopes.
The new lockdown also forces the country’s retail establishments and a large part of the service sector to stop operating until mid-January 2021, BTA reported.
This is a first step and we hope to resume all activities as soon as the level of infection allows, said a senior tourism official in the town of Ischgl, Tirol.
More than 6,000 tourists were infected with the coronavirus in Ischgl at the start of the pandemic in March. Local authorities said they had invested 700,000 euros in security measures against COVID-19. The complex already has its own testing centers, its own laboratory, and monitors wastewater for traces of the virus.
After last season was interrupted by the pandemic, ski resorts have invested millions of euros in funds for disinfection of ski lifts, masks for skiers and applications to avoid crowds, recalls AFP.
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