It could turn out to be a really slippery slope.
German police have their hands full trying to keep ski enthusiasts off the slopes of a popular winter spot that should be closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, according to reports.
Authorities said thousands of day hikers had traveled to the Winterberg resort near Duesseldorf in recent days, despite police attempts to close access roads to keep them away, The Telegraph said in a report.
“Yesterday, there were repeated violations of coronavirus restrictions and the obligation to wear face masks,” said police spokesman Sebastian Held.
“This has led the city to ban people from entering some of the ski slopes,” he said.
But, despite 176 violations issued for not wearing masks, 94 violations of social distance restrictions and two criminal charges in recent days, police seem unable to stop the avalanche of visitors on the slopes.
Filming posted by Reuters shows the futility of the police as they try to drive dozens of people off Winterberg’s tracks – including families with children.
Scenes in the small village show a traffic jam that clogs local roads.
“Unfortunately, we saw again today that the announced ban on access to the ski slopes did not prevent too many people from coming here anyway,” Held told the news service.
“That’s why we had to close the access roads here, in consultation with the city,” Held said. “This means that we have constantly closed the main access roads to Winterberg to prevent the ski slopes from filling up again.”
He mentioned that Winterberg’s routes are made up of thousands of square kilometers of slopes.
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