Court rules Austria can’t be held liable for early COVID infection at ski resort

BERLIN (AP) — An Austrian federal court says the state can’t be held liable for a COVID-19 infection from an outbreak at an Alpine ski resort as the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe The Supreme Court of Justice on Thursday announced its verdict in a long-running legal battle involving a German resident who traveled to Ischgl in March 2020 and visited several apres-ski venues before returning home six days later. He experienced the first coronavirus symptoms shortly afterward. The plaintiff sought damages and a ruling that the Austrian federal government was liable for harm to him resulting from authorities’ errors or failings connected to the “mismanagement” of COVID-19 in Tyrol province in late February and early March 2020.