Irish among 96 Europeans breaching Covid-19 rules at Austria ski resort

File picture

Some 96 people, including Irish people, have been found to have broken Austria’s Covid-19 rules.

Reuters reports that foreigners from across Europe at the ski resort of St Anton am Arlberg have been found to be in breach of pandemic-related rules on entering the country and the national lockdown.

Anyone found in breach of Austria’s Covid travel rules can face fines of up to €2,180.

Police in the country’s Tyrol region carried out “inspections of accommodation establishments, in particular for the inspection of second homes in the Landeck district”.

The police said in a statement that the aim of the inspections was “to determine any violations of the Registration Act, to check the use of secondary residences in accordance with the dedication, and, on the other hand, to identify any evasions / violations of the Covid-19 Entry Ordinance and then to initiate the appropriate health authority measures”.

The statement said that “96 reports (emergency measures ordinance, registration law, entry ordinance, etc.) were filed and 29 security deposits were collected”.

British, Danes, Swedes, Romanians, Germans, Australians, Irish and Poles, among others, were checked and reported, the police said.  

“The penalty under the Epidemic Act for violations of the entry or emergency measures regulation is up to €2,180”.

District Police Commander Obstlt Christoph Patigler stated: “The inspections in close co-operation with the Landeck District Authority and the support of the St Anton municipality were carried out by the police very effectively and without any significant problems in the accommodation and staff accommodation.” Deputy district captain of Landeck, Mag. Siegmund Geiger added: “Circumvention of legal regulations will not be tolerated.

“With an increase in the pressure of control by the police and authorities, anyone who tries to circumvent the strict legal situation must expect that they will meet the full severity of the law.


“Violations in this context are subject to severe penalties , since it is not a trivial offense.”

According to Reuters, Austria has recorded 413,208 cases and 7,703 deaths in the pandemic so far. Daily new cases have dropped to roughly 1,500 from a peak of more than 9,000 in November but are now falling only slowly.