Dozens of Brits denied entry to Austria over new Covid rules

Austria now requires arrivals to be triple jabbed as part of drive to combat Omicron surge

File photo: A view of the Tyrolean winter sports town Ischgl in Austria, 19 October 2020 (EPA-EFE)

More than 100 British tourists were denied entry into Austria at Innsbruck airport after they were caught out by a change in rules around Covid testing, according to the country’s police.

The new measures, which came into effect on Christmas Day, required people travelling from the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway to provide a negative PCR test within 48 hours of their arrival.

Previously, PCR test had to be taken within 72 hours. The country now also requires people to have had three Covid vaccinations as part of efforts to combat the surge in Omicron cases.

According to a report from BBC News, most of the 110 tourists were flown home immediately but 40 of them were allowed to stay in the country provided they quarantined in a hotel overnight.

Of those 40 people, 12 were given the opportunity to take a new PCR test and continue with their holiday, according to the local authority in Innsbruck.

While many of those British travellers had older PCR tests, some also had not received a booster jab.

The UK tourists had flown to Innsbruck for skiing holidays in the western Tyrol region of Austria.

Opposition politicians in the country have since called the sudden switched a “botched” job - blaming the health minister, Wolfgang Mückstein, for failing to update the restrictions on the government website.

Local opposition People’s Party tourism spokesman Franz Hörl said he was satisfied with the implementation of tighter restrictions on countries such as the UK, dubbed “virus variant areas”.

He told the APA news agency that he took issue with the “botched” operation of allowing tourists into the country over the festive period, be escorted by police to a hotel and then send them home at their own expense.

Mr Hörl said that Mr Mückstein was at fault for the mix-up for as the old restrictions were still showing on the government websites.

During the genesis of the pandemic, the resort of Ischgl, Tyrol, was linked to coronavirus cases in 45 countries after skiers returned home with the virus in February and March 2020.