Austria ski resorts reopen despite looming third lockdown

Austria allowed its more than 400 ski stations to open on Thursday, just two days before the country enters its third nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
At the beginning of this month the government announced it was allowing ski stations to open on December 24, and has stuck by the decision even after a third lockdown was announced last week.
As an outdoor sport, the government says skiing can be practised safely if sufficient precautions are taken.

However, hotels, bars and restaurants remain closed, effectively limiting the slopes to locals, while the lockdown will also force the country’s shops and much of its service industry to close until mid-January.
[attach id=1006430 size="large" align="left" type="image"]A city sign of the Tyrolean ski resort of Ischgl is pictured on a rainy day, in Ischgl, Austria, on October 29, 2020. Photo: AFP[/attach]
“This is a first step, and we hope that we can fully open soon – as soon as the infection rates allow for it,” Andreas Steibl, head of tourism for the Ischgl resort, told AFP in a recent interview.
Ishcgl gained infamy as the resort where thousands of international skiers got infected in one of Europe’s first, large-scale outbreaks in...