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Ischgl is a highly visited ski resort in Austria that attracts crowds of tourists every year. The resort not only offers world-class downhill skiing, but is also known for its lively après-ski parties.
At the beginning of March this year, Ischgl also known as the site of one of the worst virus outbreaks in Europe during the corona pandemic. Tyrol officials have been criticized for their handling of the infection, which has put economic interests before human health.
But local authorities, the tourism industry and politicians have repeatedly said that no mistakes were made.
Now the AFP news agency has read thousands of pages of documents containing messages, emails and meeting minutes that point to the contrary. One of the most obvious evidence concerns Kitzloch’s bar, which Austrian authorities later identified as the epicenter of the spread.
On March 7, a waiter tested positive for the virus, making it the first confirmed case in Ischgl.
At the time, around 10,000 tourists were at the ski resort and Kitzloch, like most of the other bars, was full of partying skiers. The crowd was so large that staff had to use a whistle to move around the room where guests, among other things, amused themselves by spitting ping pong balls from their mouths into other guests’ drinks.
The health authority in Tirol he was informed about the result of the test and in a protocol he says: “We can probably expect many more cases that can be linked to the bar,” says AFP. Despite this, the authority chose to keep the bar open and issued a press release on March 8 saying that “a transmission of the virus to bar guests is quite unlikely from a medical point of view.”
Only when all the bar staff tested positive for the virus was it closed. But everywhere else in town, thousands of ignorant tourists continued to ski in tight cabin lifts and party in crowded bars.
It would be until March 13 before all of Ischgl was quarantined. By then Iceland had already included Ischgl in a list of risk areas since several people returned to Iceland with the infection.
Despite warnings from the Icelandic health authority, his counterpart in Tyrol tried to infect passengers on the plane on the way home, writes AFP.
The documents also show how concerned those responsible were about the impact of the infection on Tyrol’s reputation. Following Iceland’s warnings, the canton’s chief executive, Markus Maass, writes in an email to the Austrian government: “We try to keep a low profile.”
The prosecutor’s office in Tyrol has launched an investigation into the events that occurred at the ski resort but does not want to comment on the matter or if anyone is suspected of a crime. But according to AFP, four people, including Markus Maass and Ischgl Mayor Werner Kurz, are under investigation for deliberately or negligently endangering human health through a contagious disease.
Additionally, four people are filing a civil lawsuit over the outbreak in Ischgl, including the family of a man who died of COVID-19, which he is said to have received in Ischgl.
According to Austrian health authorities, at least 6,000 infected viruses are spreading throughout the country and to others in at least 45 countries, including Sweden.
Read more: This is how the ski paradise in the Alps became a secret hotbed for the Swedes
