'My son tested positive on an Austrian ski holiday and we've been treated like it's Ebola'

City trader Chris Banks, 51, from Walton-on-Thames, took his family of five on a much-longed-for Christmas ski trip to the resort of Obergurgl in Austria last weekend. When his son tested positive for Covid two days after arrival, things started to go from bad to worse.

I booked this trip last January when we were sitting around the house during lockdown, thinking it would have all blown over by then. We flew on Saturday (December 18) to Innsbruck and took a taxi to the four-star Bergwelt Hotel in Obergurgl to start our week-long Christmas holiday.

I’m an avid skier and have been waiting until the children were old enough for me to manage getting them in ski boots — we have triplets. They are nine and we all did a day’s skiing at Hemel Hempstead in preparation.

But now I’d say it’s too soon to take a family away — no one really knows what happens if you test positive when you’re away and now I know, I wouldn’t put my family in this position again.

When we left, Austria had just come out of lockdown. My wife and I are tripled-jabbed, most of us had Covid this summer and we thought we were fairly safe. Though it wasn’t required before travel, we all took lateral flow tests before leaving.

But the night we arrived in Obergurgl my son didn’t want to go to dinner, which is unusual. He felt feverish, so we tested him again but that was negative. It was the same Sunday morning, so we all stayed in the hotel for the day and didn’t ski. On Monday morning he still felt unwell — but nothing more than a mild cold — so my wife stayed with him while I took my two daughters out to ski.

But when I tested him Monday afternoon, he was positive.

I immediately spoke to the front desk but they didn’t know what to do — things are constantly changing. Initially they said isolate the child but the rest of you can do what you want, which sounded a bit relaxed.

They notified the Austrian health authorities, however, and it went downhill from there.

We were told not to leave the room, and while the hotel initially offered us a separate three-bed, two-bathroom apartment where we would be more comfortable, the authorities wouldn’t let us move.

Instead we were given PCR tests on Tuesday (December 21) morning and that evening taken to a ‘safe house’ 15km outside Innsbruck.

Drivers in hazmat suits arrived at 7pm to transfer us in an old ambulance with bare metal walls. It was minus 5C or so outside, with no heat in the vehicle — they said the cold was better for the Covid patient! — so my kids were scared and freezing by the time we arrived.

They were treating us like we had Ebola and that drive set the tone.

We arrived at the Clubhotel Goetzen/Edelweiss Hotel, a former three-star hotel being used by the Government to house people with Covid. The radiators in the room were cold and we couldn’t warm up. We had one duvet each and shivered through the night, fully clothed, keeping ourselves warm with heat from the stove in the kitchenette.

Hot water is intermittent — it’s warm at best and only good enough for one shower now and then. The hotel manager wouldn’t respond to my queries for more blankets but the guard who checks us regularly kindly found us more.

We were offered a room for four people or two separate rooms — but we didn’t want to split up because the kids are afraid and my wife and I worried what might happen if either adult became really unwell. So despite the risk of infection, we took the room for four. My son is in the bedroom and the rest of us in the common room. They have a few screens but the Wi-Fi is patchy and there’s nothing else for them to do — we’re not allowed outside to exercise, but thankfully we have a balcony so we can get some fresh air.

The one good thing is that we can order deliveries, so I ordered a heater which arrived from Amazon today. We’re given three meals a day but they are predictably nasty. Lunch one day was fried cheese, dinner last night a plateful of deep-fried mushrooms, breakfast is rolls and jam. There’s not a single plate, glass or cup in the kitchenette — we have to drink out of the tap.

It’s not the worst thing in the world — we have been able to order from local restaurants and the accommodation is free, we’re not paying. I’d be livid if we were paying. The hotel in Obergurgl reimbursed me for the rest of the week we didn’t stay there and helped get our money back from ski rental and lessons, they were really kind.

We were all tested again yesterday and are still negative. We have another test on December 27 before hopefully being freed on December 28 but our biggest concern is that another of us gets Covid and the quarantine clock starts over. That would be a disaster.

I’m not speaking out to be inflammatory — but if anyone in your party tests positive in Austria, you’re going to be basically under house arrest for at least ten days. I haven’t contacted my insurance company because I know they don’t cover this.

When we were trying to decide whether or not to go, Austria had opened up again after lockdown, with no requirements for pre-departure testing, so I thought they seemed pretty flexible, but that belies what really happens if someone in your group gets Covid. There’s no way you can guard against it and this place is filling up with English people.

I have moved our British Airways flights to January 1, which was the next available slot, but if we do get out on December 28, there are some easyJet flights we can take.

The kids are doing OK, they’re pretty resilient, and at least we’re spending Christmas together — very together! We’ve just said they’ll have a proper Christmas when we get home.

They are all gutted to miss their very first ski trip — I think they will want to come back but we’ll be ultra-cautious when travelling again. The worst thing is not being able to take care of my own family at Christmas.