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“We don’t want a second Ischgl” – This phrase is often used when there is a warning about the coronavirus. From there, the virus spread throughout Europe, because authorities reacted too late, say those affected, who are now complaining.
By Clemens Verenkotte, ARD-Studio Vienna
Martina B. is 52 years old and was infected with the coronavirus in Ischgl in March. Like every winter, the Frankfurt civil servant snowboarding with her two older daughters and her husband in the Tyrolean valley of Pazna.
They arrived on March 8 and had previously asked the hotel if it was safe to come. “After we asked if the area was okay and the hotelier took our worries away, we started our snowboarding vacation in the ski area on Monday. That means that nothing, absolutely nothing, pointed out the problems in Tyrol prevailed.”
Five weeks of individual isolation
On March 13, that notorious Friday the 13th, they and around 8,000 to 10,000 guests had to leave the valley in a hurry and completely uncoordinated. Shortly before, the quarantine was imposed on Ischgl and the surrounding ski areas in the early afternoon. They returned to Frankfurt am Main at 6am on Saturday morning after a twelve hour drive.
A short time later, Martina B. showed clear symptoms. “My course is described as moderate. That means I was in the hospital, but I was not ventilated by intensive care. I was in individual isolation for a total of five weeks. I can still feel the consequences of Corona extremely today. I have had my problems from smells for almost six months. and I completely lost my sense of taste. I have suffered lung damage that is irreparable and severely restricts my living conditions and possibly also my life expectancy. I have suffered mild heart damage and currently also have nervous problems in the area of the brain that affects my motor skills and mine. It affects brain performance, “said the 52-year-old.
6000 claimants from 45 countries
Martina B. is one of more than 6,000 Ischgl tourists who have followed the call from the Austrian consumer protection association since the end of March to get in touch. Victims from 45 countries came forward, including 4,000 people from Germany, 500 from the Netherlands, 500 from Great Britain and others from Scandinavia. More than 1000 of them declared themselves ready to sue the Republic of Austria and the federal state of Tyrol.
He was surprised by the scope of the comments, says Peter Kolba, president of the consumer protection association in Vienna. “Our commitment is to 6000 people who were there and who describe exactly what happened and how it went,” says Kolba. “One to two percent were in the hospital, including some in the intensive care unit, and to date we have counted 32 deaths.”
From Ischgl to the world
Who is responsible for that? Where are the flaws, if any? And with whom? Was it negligence or intent, excessive demands, or disability?
On the night of March 4-5, the Icelandic authorities sent their warning via the European Early Warning System to the Ministry of Health in Vienna: Eight returnees from Ischgl had tested positive. At this time, around 11,000 foreign tourists were in the Pazna Valley. On March 7, the Kitzloch bartender tested positive. All après-ski bars will be closed on March 10, the lifts will continue to operate.
On the morning of March 13, Tyrolean Governor Günther Platter picked up the phone and informed the club presidents, that is, the leaders of the parliamentary groups, in the Tyrolean state parliament, including Dominik Oberhofer of the liberal NEOS in Innsbruck. A short time later, a quarantine was declared over the Paznaun Valley. Then thousands of tourists quickly begin their return journey. “I thought they were carrying the virus all over Europe,” recalls Oberhofer.
Allegation of omission and negligence
The “official accusation of liability” – that’s the official name – against the Austrian federal government and the provincial government of Tyrol, which the head of consumer protection Kolba presents to the Vienna regional court, is based on three accusations.
First: In the week of March 7 to 13, the necessary closure of the Paznaun Valley and at least the warning to tourists after the coronavirus was detected in Ischgl was omitted.
Second: presumably for economic reasons, the Tyrol provincial government and health authorities kept skiing open in Ischgl until March 13.
Third: The federal government, in particular Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, unleashed the disaster of the chaotic departure of foreign guests by abruptly imposing the quarantine in the early afternoon of March 13 and thus negligently contributing to the spread of the virus.
Martina B., who is suffering the consequences of the serious illness, awaits justice by presenting the lawsuit. “Because many people are affected, some so much that they have lost their loved ones.”
