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Ski tourists on après ski became the picture of the spread of the coronavirus in Europe this spring.
Soon the snow, if it has not yet arrived, will reach the ski resorts of Europe.
But these facilities ask Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to stay away from residents when they go on vacation soon.
On Tuesday, Conte comes out and asks Italians to leave the board over the Christmas holidays to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
He believes that it is impossible to allow a ski holiday during the Christmas holidays and calls on the EU to close the ski slopes, writes NTB, quoting the DPA news agency.
NOTICE: Italians are asked not to visit the ski resorts during the Christmas holidays due to the spread of the infection in the country. Here from Julia in 018 from Bormio northeast of the Italian Alps, not far from Switzerland. Photo: Miguel Medina / AFP / NTB
– Unacceptable joke
Regional President Luca Zaia in Veneto, located in the northeast of the country, believes that the union should take measures that also apply to the rest of the continent.
– Ski holidays cannot be prohibited in South Tyrol (Italy) and allowed in parts of Austria. That would have been an unacceptable joke, says Zaia.
Italian ski resorts get a third of their total revenue in a year over Christmas and New Years, writes Reuters.
Therefore, the city council can go beyond the finances of the ski resorts.
“Conte must remember that the economy that supports entire mountain communities is in peril,” the president of the Italian national association of elevator suppliers, Valeria Ghezzi, told Reuters.
NOT THIS YEAR: This year there will probably not be many people in Skistua in Hemsedal. Here since Easter 2017. Photo: Erik Johansen / NTB
Conte says he has held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Prime Minister Angela Merkel on “a common European protocol.”
Italy is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic. They are the second country in Europe after the United Kingdom to have more than 50,000 deaths per crown.
Car to the ski resort
Last winter season, Norwegian ski resorts closed earlier than expected as a result of the pandemic.
This season, closing ski resorts in Norway has not been considered as a national measure to limit infection, assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad tells TV 2.
He says that many of the travel restrictions in Europe are based on the need to reduce transmission between people from different regions and countries when they are on trains, buses, hotels, nightclubs and the like.
– In Norway, most people travel with their own car when going to the alpine slopes, either from their own home or from their own cabin. So the risk of infection is minimal, as long as the purpose of the trip is skiing activity and not indoor meetings with people other than those who live together, Nakstad writes in an email to TV 2.
– How great is the risk of infection when skiing in a ski resort when you are generally not as easily infected outdoors as indoors?
IN YOUR OWN CAR: In Norway, people travel to the ski resort with their own car. Health Deputy Director Espen Nakstad says travel restrictions in Europe are justified to avoid public transport. Photo: Terje Bendiksby / NTB
– If you keep a good distance in the queues for the lifts, there is a minimal risk of infection associated with skiing. Of course, you also have to keep a good distance in bathroom queues, just like the rest of society, he says.
Shorter day?
According to Fri Flyt, there are two ski resorts in Norway that have already opened. The Volda ski resort opened last weekend and the Bjorli ski lift in the municipality of Lesja will start operating on Wednesday.
Several other ski resorts will also open soon.
Nakstad says that it is the municipal superiors in all alpine municipalities who must decide whether the cabins, heating rooms or restaurants / bars related to ski resorts should be open.
Therefore, the weather forecast for winter and Christmas makes the expert smile
– It is clear that staying in a heated room carries a great risk of infection if space is limited and there is a contagious person. Perhaps selling cookouts and a shorter day on the slopes is the best solution, writes Nakstad and continues:
– It is important that the municipal doctor and the alpine industry find good solutions together that minimize the risk of infection.
– Good enough on the alpine slopes.
Nakstad further says that most people who ski use buffs or the like that limit the spread of the drops if they cough or sneeze, even if it’s not as good as a face mask.
– It should be good enough as long as you are on the alpine slope and keep a good distance from others. However, if you move indoors, you must follow the same rules as otherwise for distance and possible bandages if it is not possible to maintain a good distance, writes Nakstad and continues:
– We have not given specific advice on this as it seems that the existing advice is good enough. They also apply to anyone planning a trip to the alpine slopes.
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Après ski perforated
As soon as there is enough snow in the Hemsedal ski area, in a few days the lifts will start working.
Destination manager Andreas Smith-Erichsen at SkiStar Hemsedal says they have made several moves ahead of the winter season opening to ensure infection control rules are followed.
OPENS SOON: The Hemsedal Ski Center will open soon. If you are taking the elevator with someone else, they must be in the same cohort as you. Destination Director Andreas Smith-Erichsen. Photo: SkiStar
Among other things, the après ski will not be as you know it.
– It will be après ski in a completely different way, without dances and concerts among other things. Everything stays within the infection control framework, Smith-Erichsen tells TV 2.
Other measures that they introduce, among other things, are one meter between all the skiers in the queue of the lift, those who will travel on the same lift, must be in the same cohort and that as far as possible it is digital, including the ski passes and check-in.
– Will it be relevant to introduce a limit to the number of people who are in the field at the same time?
– We have such a large facility that we believe people should be able to keep their distance within what we expect to get from guests. If we see a lot going on, we can extend the opening hours, says Smith-Erichsen.
The destination manager says the industry has created a joint infection control guide that it has submitted to health authorities. Therefore, the same rules will also apply to other installations.
