The cat is out of the bag. There will be a lockdown for unvaccinated people in Upper Austria and Salzburg. SP leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner doesn’t go far enough.
What nobody wanted has now become a reality. With Upper Austria and Salzburg, two federal states will send unvaccinated people into lockdown from Monday. These are then only allowed to leave the house for the reasons already known.
On Sunday there will be another meeting between representatives of the federal government and the state governors to debate further corona measures. Regardless of this, the Mayor of Vienna Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) announced an even stricter corona regime for the federal capital on Friday. In addition to a broad comeback of the FFP2 mask, there will also be a “2G Plus” rule for night gastronomy and for events with more than 25 people. In addition to proof of recovery or vaccination, a negative PCR test result is then mandatory.
Rendi-Wagner locates government failure
On Friday evening, the federal party leader of the SPÖ, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, explained her view of things. She criticized the federal government and stated that the measures were implemented too late.
The central question that arises is how it could come to this, the politician begins her statement. That is a question that many would ask. The last few days have been “chaotic”, she is convinced that anger and insecurity in the population will increase. She was skeptical about a lockdown for unvaccinated people. You don’t know what such a thing would bring, she explained. There is a lack of evidence.
Many questions unanswered
In addition, numerous experts would question the usefulness of such a lockdown. It is questionable whether the necessary contact reduction – experts speak of minus 30 percent that would be necessary – could be achieved in this way. There are also other questions open, so Rendi-Wagner: What are unvaccinated people allowed to do? Who controls this? Unvaccinated people would not wear a sign. The corresponding ordinance, or at least its draft, is not yet available to the opposition, said the medical student.
As a concrete measure, she calls for a vaccination program that tries to attract skeptical citizens. You have to offer them an appointment. She also advocates stricter mask and quarantine rules. In this context, she welcomed Vienna’s approach. The federal government also failed to expand the range of PCR tests, although there was enough time.
READ MORE: This is what the new Covid regulation says about the “1G” rule
Lockdown for everyone could come
ORF presenter Lou Lorenz-Dittlbacher wanted to know whether a short, hard lockdown was advisable for everyone. There wasn’t one on the table, answered Rendi-Wagner. However, it does not rule out the possibility that the federal government will impose such a lockdown on everyone when it is “at the end of its line”. She compared Austria to a car that crashed into a wall at 200 kilometers per hour. You have to hold those people responsible who are behind the wheel.
As far as compulsory vaccination in the health sector is concerned, the doctor speaks out in favor of such a vaccination for new employees. If one were to introduce a general compulsory vaccination for everyone in this sector, up to 15 percent of the staff would be eliminated. Rendi-Wagner is sure that no health system can afford that. Unvaccinated employees on highly sensitive wards such as oncology (cancer ward, note) or the maternity ward would have to be vaccinated. Here the employers would have to make use of the transfer right.
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