Corona hammer in Austria!
The Austrian government has agreed with the federal states on a lockdown and mandatory vaccination for EVERYONE, announced Federal Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg (52, ÖVP). This applies from Monday throughout Austria for ten days and can be extended again for a maximum of ten days. The schools should remain open.
The vaccination requirement for everyone applies from February 1, 2022!
“We have to look reality in the eye,” said Schallenberg, explaining the decision to make vaccinations mandatory. “Incited by radical anti-vaccination opponents and flimsy fake news”, too few have been vaccinated, says Schallenberg. Then it becomes particularly clear: “This is an attack on our health system.”
The result: “Enormous human suffering and overcrowded intensive care units.”
“Despite months of persuasion, we haven’t been able to convince enough people to get vaccinated. The measures have increased the willingness to vaccinate, but not to a sufficient extent, ”said the Chancellor. “We don’t want a fifth wave, we don’t want a sixth and seventh wave.” The virus will not go away, it will stay.
As a result, restaurants, shops, cinemas and theaters close on Monday. Only shops for daily needs remain open.
By December 13th at the latest, the lockdown will be over for vaccinated and convalescent people, said Schallenberg. For unvaccinated people, however, the lockdown continues afterwards.
The seven-day incidence in Austria is almost 1,000 and for more than a week more than 10,000 new infections with the coronavirus have been reported every day. Clinics are reaching their capacity limits. The situation is particularly dramatic in Salzburg and Upper Austria, with incidences of over 1,500 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Photo: LEONHARD FOEGER / REUTERS
“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/bundeskanzler-alexander-schallenberg-und-gesundheitsminister-wolfgang-mueckstein-7bc00b741ed14d67be2f4f5958304471-78290546/Bild/1.bild.jpg “/> Federal Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg and Health Minister Wolfgang MücksteinPhoto: LEONHARD FOEGER / REUTERS
► Explosive: Schallenberg was actually against a lockdown, but according to “oe24” he was taken by surprise by the state governors (such as prime ministers in Germany). During the negotiations, they announced that they would simply impose “a short joint lockdown” themselves, even if the Chancellor is against it. Schallenberg’s coalition partner, Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (47, Greens) is in favor of the lockdown.
Schallenberg and his conservative government team had spoken out against further restrictions until the end. Suggestions by the Green Minister of Health Wolfgang Mückstein, for example, on night-time exit restrictions for everyone, were criticized. But on Thursday the federal states of Salzburg and Upper Austria, governed by the ÖVP, pushed forward with the announcement of regional lockdowns. Local and most businesses are closing, schools are switching to distance learning. Some other countries also signaled on Thursday that they would go along with it.
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