One Icelander has contacted an Austrian firm that has called for a class action suit against the owners of the Austrian ski resort Ischgl, Peter Kolba, executive director of the case, confirmed.
More the 2,700 individuals have registered for the lawsuit, most of them from Germany. The Norwegian Aftonbladet reported yesterday that 30 Danes, 17 Swedes, and 14 Norwegians were also among those involved.
This case has attracted global attention. The owners of the ski resort have been accused of taking the interests of tourism above the health of tourists. A criminal investigation has begun on whether a restaurant in Ischgl concealed that one of their employees had been diagnosed with COVID-19 at the end of February.
Earlier this month, the Icelandic authorities warned of traveling to the ski resort, after a group of Icelanders returned from Ischgl, bringing the virus with them to the country.
However, Ischgl’s Tourist Board believes that all the Icelanders who were at the ski resort at the same time and returned home with COVID-19 must have caught the virus from somewhere else. “It is the authorities’ view that the Icelandic tourists with COVID-19 became infected elsewhere. The Austrian government has a good overview of the state of affairs,” their official statement said.
The ski resort’s tourist board emphasised that they have full trust in their authorities. Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason said that he sent a message to the Austrian authorities, but he has not heard back from them.
As ever, those looking for more information or advice should go to the Icelandic Government’s excellent COVID-19 help page.
Tune into our daily COVID-Cast for a deeper dive into the day’s developments.
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