The local skiers arriving in a continuous stream to Turkey’s mountain resorts during school semester breaks probably thought the mountaintops would be a good place to escape from COVID-19 restrictions in the cities — and perhaps get together in the open air. But as soon as the footage of parties crowded with parka-clad socialites hit social media, Turkey’s ever-watchful Interior Ministry cut the good times short.

On Jan. 26, the Interior Ministry sent out regulations on pandemic measures to their local offices and urged them to get the ski hotels to toe the line on COVID-19 measures across the country: no music after 11:00, no crowded gatherings at restaurants or bars even if outdoors, no organized parties and strict enforcement of face masks for all the guests at hotels. It also declared that the weekend lockdowns in the rest of the country apply to ski resorts. 

The images also brought a terse warning from the Health Ministry’s COVID-19 Scientific Committee. “With the winter break at schools, we have seen an unexpected surge in the visitors to the ski resorts,” committee member Emre Kayipmaz told NTV. “But the images we have seen over the weekend have shown crowds on both the slopes and the closed areas of the hotels. This is a serious threat to the measures we have taken … and risk a third peak.” 

Turkey began mass vaccinations with a first batch of 3 million vaccine doses on Jan. 14, starting with health workers and continuing with elderly citizens. The second batch of 10 million doses from China's Sinovac Biotech arrived early Jan. 29, the local press reported.