Nearly half of people in this town have antibodies against coronavirus
More than 42% of the population of the Austrian winter sports resort of Ischgl has antibodies against Covid-19, according to a study carried out at the end of April and published on June 25.
The inhabitants of the Austrian winter sports resort of Ischgl, where many Europeans are believed to have been infected with the new coronavirus, are 42% to show traces of Covid-19 contamination, confirming the epidemic outbreak status of this tourist destination, according to a recent study.
Thousands of holidaymakers, especially Germans and Scandinavians, are said to have caught the new coronavirus during their stay in this Tyrolean resort, nicknamed the “Ibiza of the Alps” for its unbridled evenings.
The local authorities are criticized for having reacted too late to the first cases detected and for having contributed to the spread of the virus in Europe. Complaints have been lodged with the Austrian courts, and a preliminary investigation is underway, AFP reported.
Local authorities are criticized for reacting too late to the first cases detected and for contributing to the spread of the virus in Europe. Complaints have been filed with the Austrian courts, and a preliminary investigation is underway, AFP recalls.
Antibodies present, but no infection
According to a study carried out at the end of April, 42.4% of those tested had antibodies showing exposure to the virus, said Dorothee von Laer, who heads the Institute of Virology at the Innsbruck Medical School.
Only 15 percent of the people in whom antibodies were detected had previously tested positive for the new coronavirus, the university said.
“So there were 85% of these people in whom the infection was not detected,” Professor von Laer noted. It, therefore, considers it likely that the virus circulated in the station “at least from the second half of February”, whereas the first case was made public on March 7. Among the infected inhabitants, two Covid-19 patients died.
Austrian researchers took blood samples from 1,473 people, 79% of the residents of Ischgl.
Assessment in Austria
Despite the outbreak in Ischgl, the number of infections has been relatively limited in Austria, with 17,388 cases, which have left 698 dead to date, in the country of nearly 9 million inhabitants.
Since the progressive lifting of the restrictions imposed in mid-March, the number of new daily contaminations has been in recent weeks between 20 and 50.
