“Death of gastronomy” – Reactions to the new curfew – Austria –

Tyrolean Governor Günther Platter (ÖVP) on Tuesday spoke in favor of compulsory registration in the restaurant sector. Follow-up can be made more effective and administration eased. Christoph Walser, president of the WK of Tyrol, was of the same opinion. Changing the curfew from 1:00 am to 10:00 pm was considered essential to rapidly reduce the number of new infections.

The governors of Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg announced the breakthrough in a joint broadcast with the Chancellery on Tuesday morning.

The measure should initially be limited to three weeks and take effect next Friday. “I’m happy to be in tune. In this way we can convey clear messages to the outside world,” Platter said at a subsequent press conference at the field house.

He knew this would be “a serious blow to the already battered gastronomy,” admitted Platter. “I’m sorry, but this measure is absolutely necessary.” Last weekend, priority checks were carried out at companies in all Tyrolean districts, reported Elmar Rizzoli, head of the Corona task force in Tirol: “Discipline has been shown to decline rapidly in a later hour.” There were 18 reports that many of the 190 controlled companies had not implemented the measures or had not implemented them sufficiently. “It takes three weeks for the measures to take effect,” Rizzoli said with conviction.

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“We have to be careful where it gets cozy,” added LHStv. Ingrid Felipe (Greens), also with regard to private celebrations. Here it can only be appealed and not regulated.

According to his own statements, WK President Walser has also agreed with his colleagues from Vorarlberg and Salzburg and supports the decision to change the curfew. “Travel advisories should be avoided in advance, especially with regard to the upcoming winter season.”

Criticisms of the decision come from the FPÖ. Tyrolean state party chairman Markus Abwerzger considered the “reduction of the Crown curfew” as the “death sentence for Tyrolean gastronomy” and placed the management of the chaos of the state and federal government: “ÖVP and the Greens are destroying the Tyrol economic life line “. And he also stated: “Corona frustration within the population is increasing steadily.”

The Governor of Vorarlberg, Markus Wallner (ÖVP), literally declared that the measure of the three western federal states was “important and correct” in view of the general development. The curfew advance was limited to three weeks, then it would be seen in which direction it could go, he said in the press lobby after the government meeting.

The economy, of course, “is not happy,” but sees the need for the measure and supports it, said Hans Peter Metzler, president of the Vorarlberg Chamber of Commerce. In view of the fact that travel advisories from neighboring countries could be imminent, one has no other choice and hopes the measure will work.

The current crisis management is damaging the already ailing industry, criticizes the president of the Neos club, Sabine Scheffknecht: “The new curfew regulation will cause more massive drops in sales and additional destruction of jobs in gastronomy and tourism “he predicts. This is the end of nightclubs, but the hotel industry will also suffer greatly if guests can only sit in their rooms after 10 p.m., Scheffknecht said.

The leader of the federal FPÖ party, Norbert Hofer, also honks the same horn: “This is the final death sentence for thousands of restaurateurs and their workforce. With this measure, the ÖVP has been abolished as a business party.” Advancing the closing time is “another short-circuit reaction from the black-green Corona universe,” Hofer said.

The spontaneous advance of the curfew in the western federal states is also incomprehensible to the SPÖ Vorarlberg: “After the traffic light chaos of the federal government, the federal states do it alone,” criticizes the SPÖ health spokesperson, Elke Zimmermann, and calls for “national rules” and “clarity instead of chaos.” .

“The virus does not care about the times. The shorter curfew moves the nightlife to the private sector. Safety distances and other measures cannot always be observed in the apartment, they are certainly not controlled at all. I fear that the touch The shorter curfew will lead to the number of infections increasing, “concludes Zimmermann and advocates reconsidering this step.

On Tuesday, Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) called on the federal states of Vienna and Lower Austria to do the same as the western federal states and move the curfew to the front. “Our goal is to save jobs,” Kurz stressed to reporters. The higher the number of newly infected people, the more travel advisories and fewer tourists there are, which is “extremely problematic”, especially in the federal capital.