Apres ski, which has been infamous since Ischgl anyway, also seems to be a key driver of the corona infection process in the Omikron wave. As the representative of AGES announced at the most recent meeting of the traffic light commission, 70 to 80 percent of the cases in the leisure sector can be attributed to apres ski. Another problem is that tourists leaving Salzburg and Tyrol are spreading the virus across the country.
The internal minutes of the meeting – available to the APA – show that, according to AGES, “a striking number of clusters, and here clusters of large dimensions” were identified in the apres-ski area. This also includes persons residing in Vienna who were identified as cases in the federal state of residence following skiing activities in other federal states.
According to the cluster analysis, most of the infections did not occur in the course of transport (i.e. the gondola) or exercise (skiing), but directly in the apres-ski setting. It is restricted that the traceability of infections z. B. is very limited in the course of gondola rides.
The fact that there is a problem in this area is not denied even in federal states with ski tourism. The representative from Vorarlberg noted that the primary problem was in the area of metallurgy and apres ski.
It is hoped that the number of cases will also decrease accordingly due to the sharp drop in tourism in January. According to information from AGES, numerous clusters throughout Austria originate in Salzburg and/or Tyrol. The local authorities don’t want to be to blame. The traffic light representative from Tyrol replicated that tourists sometimes left immediately after a positive test in order to avoid quarantine on site.
But tourism isn’t the only problem. Cases were also discovered in old people’s homes in almost all federal states and Vienna called clusters in two artistic venues conspicuous.