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Saturday 19 December 2020
Cantons fear ping pong virus
Many Swiss ski areas remain closed
First of all, the Alpine countries, Austria and Switzerland, are resisting any demand to keep their ski areas closed for Christmas. Now the ski lock goes through the back door. Many Swiss cantons deviate from the generous Bern line and don’t open their cable cars and lifts after all.
Several Swiss cantons are now closing their ski areas due to corona infection numbers. Other measures taken by individual cantons also go far beyond the protective measures that the Berne government had prescribed at the national level on Friday. Consequently, restaurants, cinemas, museums and sports clubs are due to close as of next Tuesday, but shops and ski areas may remain open despite criticism from outside. The cantons of Zurich, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Schwyz, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Zug, Appenzell Innerrhoden and Uri have announced that they will close their ski areas from Tuesday. Corona’s situation does not allow them to continue operations or even start operations, explained the Lucerne governing council.
In contrast, the ski areas will initially remain open in the cantons of Bern and Valais. The government of Bern asked the population to be careful. He announced that he would close the ski resorts if the situation in the hospitals worsened. Other cantons, such as Graubünden, wanted to decide before Monday whether to open the ski areas during Christmas.
The number of infections in Switzerland, relative to the number of inhabitants, is among the highest in Europe and the healthcare system is reaching its limits in many places. However, the federal government and cantons have so far been cautious. Only last week were public events banned and a curfew was introduced for restaurants at 7pm, but there were exceptions. The Swiss Society for Emergency and Rescue Medicine is already warning of a third crown wave. The amount will depend on people’s behavior during the upcoming holidays, said board member Aristomenis Exadaktylos of the Keystone-SDA news agency. Uniform rules are needed across the country: “Otherwise we will only play cantonal virus ping-pong.
Vienna Defends Opening: “As Safe As A Subway Ride”
Meanwhile, the Austrian government defended the opening of the ski resorts against criticism. Despite another lockdown several weeks after Christmas, cable cars and elevators may reopen on December 24, the decision on the matter lies with the federal states. “We currently have no tourists in the country, which means that we are opening up sports facilities and ski lifts, especially for locals,” said Tourism Minister Elisabeth Köstinger in Vienna.
A Viennese could, for example, take the subway to the green on the outskirts and go for a run, Köstinger said. “There is no difference between cable cars or gondolas with other means of transport, so to be honest, sometimes I don’t understand why this looks so different.” Safety concepts that include a mask requirement when queuing for the elevator have been in place since fall.
On Saturday the new Austrian entry ordinance came into force, according to which, with some exceptions, travelers must be quarantined for ten days with a trial option from day five. On Friday evening, the Austrian government announced renewed exit restrictions and trade closures from December 26 to January 17. For those who later don’t want to take part in one of the crown tests offered across the country, the government says the rules should apply for another week. For those who tested negative, the gastronomy, tourism and culture businesses, closed since November, will open again from January 18.
