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“My personal dream would be to reach fewer than 1,000 cases a day,” Anschober said in an APA interview. He has high hopes for vaccination, but warns against a false sense of security: continue to be careful, measures such as the obligation of the MNS will accompany Austria for months. Anschober wants to hold on to the planned end of the shutdown in mid-January.
The expected expiration date of the tough measures currently in effect on January 24 or 18 (for all those who “get released”) will remain from the current perspective. “That’s the declared goal. At the moment it looks like it,” Anschober said. Expect the Christmas holidays to have an impact on the number of new infections. “But at the same time, we have had the lockdown regulations since December 26 and they will have a strong impact. That means: overall, there should be a significant reduction in the number of infections.”
Anschober wants a seven-day incidence below 100
The stated “minimum target” is to bring the seven-day incidence below 100 (from around 150 currently). The Health Minister wants to see the reproduction factor at a maximum of 0.8 – “if somehow it can go down a bit,” he repeated his objectives. And he wants to push the intensive care beds occupied by patients with a crown from more than 400 towards 200. “Because then, for the first time in a long time, we would have a relatively ‘normal’ work situation in the ICU (intensive care units , note), with the possibility of gradually compensating for operations that have been postponed “.
Massive testing is aimed at reducing new corona infections
With the massive free tests planned for mid-January, “the infection situation will again decrease” (as the federal government has already announced) also eliminating those infected without symptoms from the infection cycle. As announced, the minister wants to present the specific rules for the tests in the first week of January; By then, it should be precisely defined which professional groups should be tested regularly. Basically, these are already fixed, so the minister: These are teachers, primary school educators, hairdressers, other body-friendly services, the catering sector and commerce with customer contact, as well as employees of the public transport with direct contact with passengers and health professions with “more intensive contact with the patient”. A legal resolution is still required for mass testing, and this must also take place in early January.
Timely information for those interested in vaccination.
After massive testing, it is important to gradually move towards vaccines. Interested parties should not worry, they will be informed in due time, Anschober emphasized; People at particular risk are preferred. After the start of vaccination on December 27, phase 1 should continue in January, which is aimed at high-risk groups (residents and employees of the elderly and nursing homes, health workers at high risk of exposure and people with defined prior illnesses). Those affected are informed directly at the facilities or production plants.
In phase 2 from February to April (population over 65 years and over, people in critical infrastructure), the interested institutions and then the general practitioners are the contact persons, according to the minister. And for the general population, who will be offered a vaccine from the second quarter of 2021 until the summer, there will be offers in addition to general practitioners directly in communities and companies (for example, vaccination streets).
A gradual process is imminent
However, Anschober warned against throwing away the usual protection measures (distance, hand hygiene and masks) when vaccination begins: “Vaccination is the key to change. This must now be accepted and implemented by the population, especially during the next few months. The implementation of vaccination will again be a very difficult phase, as we will all face a particular challenge again. Vaccination will not be a change of lever, but a step-by-step process to reduce risk. ” The goal is that everyone who wants to be vaccinated receives a vaccination offer for the summer, he repeated. The plan depends on the approval dates of vaccines and deliveries.
No exact forecast for 2021
The minister was also cautious about whether Christmas 2021 could be a “normal” one: “I do not trust myself to make a forecast. I hope that we will have a gradually easier life in the second half of 2021 and that the rather, we have limited the pandemic to a very small level. ” At first, Anschober was convinced that “the world after the pandemic will not be the same as it was before the pandemic.” Expect a “glocalisation”: although there is still an urgent need for cosmopolitanism on the one hand, with open borders, on the other hand also expect a stronger regionalization in the economy and in purchasing behavior.
Schools should open from January 18
For schools, Anschober expects a return to face-to-face teaching as planned from January 18. According to Anschober, no changes are expected to the current regulation that people in school classes or kindergarten groups who have close contact with children under the age of ten who have tested positive are classified as Category II contact and so they can continue visiting the respective facilities. In early January, however, they will review the framework conditions for starting school again together with the Ministry of Education and, among other things, they will discuss regulations for children under the age of ten.
(Those: APA)
