Austria bans apres-ski events amid virus fears

Austria is banning all apres-ski events during the upcoming winter tourism season, the country's chancellor announced on Thursday.

"The infection risk is simply too high," Sebastian Kurz told reporters in Vienna. "All other activities like skiing, shopping, dining and wellness however will be possible."

Kurz said he was wary of travel warnings as they were "a danger for tourism – especially for winter tourism – and they destroy jobs."

Tyrol Governor Guenther Platter, under whose watch virus cases rose sharply in the ski resort of Ischgl last season, apologised for the mishap.

"I am sorry, very sorry that so many got infected and that we had casualties. But during a pandemic a single person can't accept the blame alone," he added when pressed why he wouldn't apologise to German tourists.

The outbreak in Ischgl, a popular resort in western Austria, is considered one of Europe's earliest "super-spreader" events of the pandemic.

On Wednesday, an Austrian consumer protection group filed four civil lawsuits against the country's government for failing to contain the coronavirus outbreak in Ischgl.

The cluster in the Alpine ski resort has been blamed for thousands of infections worldwide during the early phase of the pandemic.

The chairman of the Consumer Protection Association, Pete Kolba, said the cases — involving an Austrian and three Germans — will test the ground for a class action on behalf of 1,000 people who fell ill with COVID-19 following a trip to Ischgl in February and March.