Style Living Self Celebrity Geeky News and Views
In the Paper BrandedUp Hello! Create with us Privacy Policy

Austrian government faces its first civil lawsuit over handling of a COVID-19 outbreak in a ski resort in 2020

By PINKY S. ICAMEN Published Sep 21, 2021 8:20 pm

The Austrian government is facing 15 civil lawsuits over its handling of the COVID-19 outbreaks in the country’s ski resorts in March 2020, which reportedly led to people from over 45 countries getting infected.

The first of the 15 lawsuits, which was heard on Sept. 17, was filed by plaintiffs from Austria and Germany, who accused the authorities of not responding quickly enough to the March 2020 outbreaks in the ski resort town of Ischgl and other resorts in the province of Tyrol. 

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the family of 72-year-old Hannes Schopf, a retired journalist and avid skier, who died after he contracted COVID-19 in Ischgl.

The ski resort town of Ischgl in the Tyrol region of Austria is reportedly the 'heart of Europe's outbreak' of COVID-19 in March 2020. 

The outbreaks were reportedly the source of Austria’s biggest cluster of COVID-19 cases at the time and were believed to have fueled the spread of COVID-19 throughout Europe, some pointing to the Ischgl resort as the ground zero of infections.

During the last stretch of ski season in March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic was just starting to wreak havoc in nearby Italy, thousands of holiday goers flocked to different ski resort towns in west Austria to hit the slopes, and have a mighty time at bars and parties.

However, after these vacationers have gone home to their respective countries, over 6,000 of them reportedly claimed they have contracted the virus in Ischgl and the surrounding area.  Around five percent reportedly suffer from symptoms of long COVID like headaches, sleep disturbance and shortness of breath. 

According to Schopf’s widow, her husband caught the virus during the panicked evacuation by bus crammed with other tourists who were sneezing and coughing.

Lawyer Alexander Klauser, acting for the Schopf family, pointed out that based on a report by an independent commission of expert, it was found that local officials had “reacted too late” and made serious miscalculations” when alerted by Iceland on March 5 that several of its nationals had tested positive on returning home.

Klauser also told AFP that local officials had “at least 48 hours to react" after the warning, and missed the opportunity of preventing more tourist to come to the town that weekend.

When a restaurant worker tested positive for the virus, Klauser said local authorities’ response was “too little too late” with insufficient contact tracing and the the implementation of restrictions on tourist activity over the subsequent few days was only “halting.”

In a Forbes report in Sept. 2020, authorities faced accusations of keeping the ski resorts open to prioritize economic opportunities of the ski season despite the outbreak. The report also noted that public health officials in Ischgl’s Tyrol region tried to downplay the possibility of the virus transmission at the resort.

It was only after eight days after the first alert from Iceland that the shutdown in the area was implemented. However, despite the lockdown, foreigners were reportedly still allowed to leave, further spreading the virus.

During the break in court, Schopf’s son Ulrich told reporters that he wants to ensure that justice was done and wants “an acknowledgement that mistakes were made” and that they should not be allowed to happen again. 

Schopf’s family is suing the Republic of Austria for €100,000 (P5.8 million). Urich said any compensation payment would be donated to a charity that his father supported when he was still alive.

Meanwhile, authorities have reportedly denied they acted slowly of that any more could have been done at the time.

Currently, five people, including four local officials have been placed under investigation in Innsbruck over the outbreak but there is no indication whether criminal charges will everntually be filed. (With a report from AFP)