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Ischgl actually means slopes, snow, party. There are over 10,000 guest beds and 239 kilometers of ski slopes for every 1,600 residents. “Relax if you can” is the marketing slogan of the small Austrian town. But the relaxed mood has evaporated. The tranquility has returned to Ischgl and the Paznaun valley, but there is a lot of talk.
People are concerned about the international headlines in which Ischgl is referred to as the “Europe virus launcher”. “Many are afraid,” says a woman who prefers to remain anonymous. Some could no longer sleep, others were desperate. It’s about livelihoods, because tourism is the most important source of income in the valley, in the entire state of Tyrol. “We are at a low point in terms of feelings.” Now you will soon be the scapegoat for the world. It hurts much
It all started with a bartender
Andreas Walser has lived in Ischgl all his life. Everyone in town knows him as a doctor with a distinctive mustache. It deals with residents, hotel staff and tourists in case of illness or accident. It is also the first point of contact for infections. On March 7, Walser performed a crown test on a man in his practice. The man is a bartender in one of the trendiest bars in the city. Tourists gather there every night, drink beer, and celebrate exuberantly. The test is positive: the waiter is the first confirmed case of crown in Ischgl, but according to research by the Food Safety and Health Agency he is not the first virus carrier in the city.
“This first patient came to us with a severe flu infection,” recalls the village doctor Walser. He took the exam “based on symptoms and medical history.” Later, the man said, “There were comments from guests traveling to his home that they tested positive for Covid-19 at home.” Before March 7, Walser explains in medical jargon, there had not been a single person with this type of virus-typical lung involvement. “Neither with us, nor in the hospital, nor in the Innsbruck clinic,” he tells the German Press Agency.
Are you acting too slow for commercial purposes?
But on March 5, the Austrian authorities received a message from Iceland. 15 people had tested positive for the coronavirus, their return trip was a few days ago. Iceland declares Ischgl a risk area, but the Tyrolean authorities assume that it was infected on the plane and not in the country. The celebrations continue for days in the ski areas. Then, on March 13, a quarantine is imposed in Ischgl and the Paznaun Valley, although with the possibility that tourists, and also the virus, leave the valley. The elevators will be closed on March 16.
Austrian consumer advocate Peter Kolba has received more than 4,000 reports from people who claim to have been infected with the corona virus in Tyrol in March. More than 70 percent of these reports come from Germany. And most people claim to have been to Ischgl. “Our main focus is on the authorities, who we suspect have acted slowly. We assume this was for commercial reasons, “Kolba recently told the” Standard. “
“We also inherit the virus”
“I think it is urgently necessary to process everything independently at the right time,” says Ingrid Felipe (Verdes). She is deputy head of state in Tyrol and is disturbed by the general judgment to which the country is currently exposed. “There may be people who deserve this criticism. But you also catch a lot of people who couldn’t have caused it.
In the village doctor Walser, the allegations that Ischgl is responsible for the spread of the coronavirus and, therefore, the suffering of many people also return again and again. “We also inherited the virus, and this virus also hit us out of the blue,” he says. “It just happened to us and we tried to react with all means under the instructions of the authorities.” In Ischgl it is like in other tourist fortresses: many international visitors, heavy traffic in a very small space. In the small Tyrolean district of Landeck, which also includes the Paznaun Valley, there are around 800 cases of Corona, a sad peak in Austria relative to the number of inhabitants.
The crown crisis as a guide for tourism?
“The number of new infections (in Ischgl) is increasing,” explains Walser. “You can feel a subtle sigh of relief in Tirol,” says regional politician Felipe. Therefore, quarantine was lifted for all Tyrolean communities, with the exception of St. Anton, Sölden and the Paznaun Valley, all the best known winter sports areas.
But how can the future be for the state of Tyrol and tourism? State politician Felipe expects a learning effect for tourism. “For a long time I have believed that Tyrolean tourism should develop much more in the direction of natural and climate-friendly tourism, which is less geared towards cabin fun and after skiing and miles of slopes.” Facing the crisis with large construction projects to be able to announce even more kilometers of tracks next winter does not seem convenient to him. “I don’t know if, after such an event, you can release reserves for it.”
She also expects a more considerate society. It has now become very clear that people who have a cough or a cold should really withdraw. “It’s about self-exploitation so many of us don’t stay home even if they have a cold.”
