It can really be a slippery slope.
German police have their hands full to keep ski lovers off the slopes of a popular winter resort that is supposed to be closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, according to reports.
Authorities said thousands of day-trippers had flocked to the Winterberg resort near Düsseldorf in recent days, despite efforts by police to block access roads to keep it out, The Telegraph said in a report.
“Yesterday there were again repeated violations of the coronavirus restrictions and the requirement to wear face masks,” Sebastian Held, police spokesperson, told the outlet.
“This led to the city banning people from entering some of the ski slopes,” he said.
But despite 176 offenses issued for not wearing masks, 94 violations of social restrictions and two criminal charges in recent days, it appears the police are unable to stop the avalanche of visitors on the slopes.
Footage posted by Reuters shows the futility of the police as they try to shake many people off Winterberg’s tracks – including families with children.
Scenes from the small town show a traffic jam of vehicles blocking local roads.
“Unfortunately, we saw again today that the announced ban on access to the ski slopes does not stop too many people from coming here,” Held told the news service.
“That is why we had to close the access roads here in consultation with the city,” Held said. “This means that we have consistently closed the main access roads leading to Winterberg to prevent the ski slopes from becoming full again.”
However, Winterberg’s trails consist of thousands of square miles of slopes, he noted.
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