/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5f6b2c3c2baf022cf83fe5b4/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=4833&cropY1=291&cropY2=3008&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "Ski Tourists Sue Austrian Government Over Huge Resort Outbreak That Fuelled Spread Of Covid-19 In Europe")
Topline
A consumer rights group is suing the Austrian government on behalf of individuals who say they caught coronavirus at one of Europe’s most popular ski resorts in March, during an outbreak that lawyers say fuelled the spread of Covid-19 across the continent.
Ischgl became a superspreader locality for coronavirus infections among winter vacationers last … [+]
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Key Facts
Austria’s Consumer Protection Association (VSV) on Wednesday said it had filed four civil lawsuits against Austria’s government over the outbreak of coronavirus at ski resort in March.
Lawyers from the VSV say that if the ski tourists had been warned, “They wouldn’t have come to Austria”, the BBC reports.
The lawyers have, to date, counted at least 6,170 people across 47 countries who say they were infected during their time at Ischgl, and lawyers plan to file a class action lawsuit next year.
The first case of coronavirus at the resort was detected on March 7, by which point Austria had already recorded its first coronavirus case 11 days earlier, while Iceland had already traced some of its first coronavirus cases to the resort.
At least 28 people who were at the resort between February and March died from coronavirus.
Ischgl eventually went into quarantine in mid-March, although foreign tourists were allowed to leave and potentially spread the virus, while the lockdown was lifted in late April.
Key Background
Thousands of skiers flocked to the Austrian resort town of Ischgl earlier this year to hit the slopes, and its bars and clubs, despite coronavirus ravaging nearby northern Italy. Lawyers claim that officials at Ischgl did act fast enough to stop the spread of coronavirus, which Austria’s public health agency believes was circulating by February 5, more than a month before a tourist there tested positive. In that time, more than 6,000 holidaymakers say they were infected and subsequently transported the virus across Europe, and around the world. Meanwhile, authorities are facing accusations that they put the economic opportunity of ski season ahead of health and safety procedures, after public health officials in Ischgl’s Tyrol region, who were told about a potential infection at the resort in early March, tried to downplay the possibility that the virus was transmitted at the resort. The resort says they responded adequately, while Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced a shutdown of the resort and the surrounding Paznaun valley on March 13.
Big Number
2.9 million. That’s the number of coronavirus cases confirmed across the E.U. and the U.K.. More than 186,000 people have died as of September 22, according to the European Center for Disease Control.
Tangent
Lockdown is thought to have wiped out up to a third of Ischgl’s yearly trade, the Guardian reports. The resort caters to not just skiers, but partygoers and wealthy clientele.
What To Watch For
While a civil lawsuit has been filed, lawyers say they will file a class action lawsuit in 2021.
Further Reading
‘Everyone was drenched in the virus’: was this Austrian ski resort a Covid-19 ground zero? (The Guardian)
Coronavirus: Ischgl resort at heart of Europe’s outbreak reopens (BBC)
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