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The traditional hotel »Miramar« in Westerland: Among other things, the hostel, once valued by the punk band »Die Ärzte«, has closed as a precaution
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Image Broker Wirth / IMAGO
Tourism is the most important source of income for Sylt.
So when restaurants and hotels on Germany's most famous holiday island close because of Corona, and that too voluntarily, then the situation is serious.
In the meantime, numerous hotels and restaurants have temporarily closed in view of the rapidly increasing corona numbers on the island.
"Due to the numerous coronavirus outbreaks, more than 20 restaurants and hotels in Sylt have temporarily ceased operations or are taking their company holidays forward as a preventive measure in order to protect their employees and guests," said the managing director of Sylt Marketing, Moritz Luft.
For tourism on Sylt, the spontaneous and early closings meant a reduction in the tourist offer.
Due to an outbreak, however, none of the businesses in the Nordfriesland district were officially closed, as a spokesman for the Nordfriesland district said.
Allegedly falsified vaccination passports presented in the club
The situation on Sylt escalated within a very short time.
This is probably due to parties at Christmas.
In the case of a corona outbreak after a party in a club in the noble town of Kampen, the police are determining whether several visitors had fake vaccination passports.
"The investigation into the case is ongoing," said a spokesman for the Flensburg Police Department in the newspapers of the Funke media group.
It is therefore about the suspicion that up to three visitors to the Christmas party have gained access with fake corona vaccination passports.
The operator of the club had spoken to the »Sylter Rundschau« of one to three guests who had been admitted with a forged vaccination card.
The number of cases on the island has risen sharply since the parties: On December 26, there were 27 registered active corona cases among the population.
On January 10th - two weeks later - the district of North Friesland reported 476 active cases for the island.
According to its own information, the district assumes that many of the diseases can be traced back to the Christmas party.
According to calculations by some local media, the extrapolated, officially not reported incidence on Sylt is currently well over 1500. The district itself does not calculate any incidences at the local level.
This is not considered sensible, said a district spokesman.
It is not the first time in the wake of the pandemic that Sylt has hit the headlines with rule violations.
The urge to celebrate or go on vacation despite Corona seems great: In 2020, for example, there was anger about tourists who smuggled their way to the island despite the ban.
The now self-imposed corona break could, from the perspective of the companies, be an attempt to get away with it again lightly.
After all, it should be manageable for most, as it falls in a relatively quiet time for tourists.
apr / dpa
