Why are the numbers currently so high?
“Germany and Austria are the EU countries that have not yet clearly passed the Omicron summit,” says virologist Dorothee von Laer. One reason for this could be that “we don’t have the same level of immunization as other countries. On the one hand, we’re one of the tail lights on vaccination, on the other hand, there has been a higher rate of infection in other countries.”
In Austria in particular, the measures have recently not been implemented consistently. It will take another two to three weeks before there is a clear drop in the numbers.
Von Laer did not understand the abolition of the mask requirement. She can already see that it is not so easy with the masks in schools, “but with adults there is no reason whatsoever not to put on the mask in retail or in the cinema”.
Is the more infectious omicron variant BA.2 already dominant?
“One has always assumed that the omicron subvariant BA.1 is displaced by BA.2,” says geneticist Ulrich Elling from the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology. “But this transition has taken longer than expected.” On the one hand, due to the protective measures that were in place until recently, “and then something relatively unpredictable happened: another variant, BA.1.1, intervened, which only differs from BA.1 in one mutation, and as a result the effect of BA.2 only now completely through”.
And do you already notice an effect of the openings from the weekend?
Another reason for the increase is the lifting of almost all measures outside of Vienna on Saturday “and also that the thought of protective measures has receded into the background due to the war”. Elling also calls for a mask requirement indoors. Both consider the decision of the Compulsory Vaccination Commission to be reasonable, but emphasize that the vaccination gap, particularly among those over 60, must be closed by autumn and that an efficient booster campaign will be necessary at the end of the summer.