On Friday, after consultations with the federal states, the federal government will decide which measures will be taken to contain the currently exploding corona numbers. Salzburg and Upper Austria already announced the lockdown for everyone from Monday on Thursday. As early as Thursday evening, negotiations were held in Tyrol as to whether this would also be imposed across Austria or whether more lenient measures such as night curfews would also be sufficient for vaccinated people in the seven other countries.
Federal Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) and Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) drove to the Tyrolean Achensee on Thursday evening to discuss the next steps with the state representatives who had come together for the governor’s conference. There was resistance to an Austria-wide lockdown in the ranks of the ÖVP: Chancellor Schallenberg has repeatedly spoken out against extending the exit restrictions already in place for the unvaccinated to include those who have been vaccinated. Even the ÖVP-led states of Lower Austria, Tyrol and Styria were not ready to follow the example of Salzburg and Upper Austria – which in the face of dramatic appeals from the hospitals and terrifyingly high numbers had ultimately decided on a lockdown for everyone.
In contrast, the SPÖ-governed states of Carinthia, Vienna and Burgenland showed solidarity with these two countries. Although Vienna and Burgenland at least have a much better grip on the fourth wave, they are definitely ready for a lockdown for everyone – and also expressed the expectation that the federal government will decide on such a thing on Friday. The outcome of the deliberations will be announced after the deliberations in a press conference in Tyrol.
On Thursday, a new record of new infections – 15,145 – and 55 fatalities were reported within 24 hours. With 1,011,465 infections already detected, the threshold of one million confirmed infections has been exceeded. The seven-day incidence is now almost 1,000 – exactly 988.7 per 100,000 inhabitants. The Corona traffic light is red everywhere – actually dark red. The risk of infection is very high in all federal states. The Corona Commission again pointed out that the currently valid measures are not sufficient – and spoke out in favor of comprehensive and general measures to restrict contact (“lockdowns”) in order to counteract an impending overload of medical care in a targeted manner.