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Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) even expected an adjustment on Friday. The federal government wants to make a decision over the weekend and communicate it to the public. However, opponents of Corona’s measures called for protests in central Vienna on Saturday.
In Austria there are so far around 100 suspected cases of the new British variant B 1.1.7 of the coronavirus, more contagious. been registered. “These are more or less distributed throughout Austria,” said Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) in Friday at press conference in Vienna. The final results of the investigations are expected in the middle of next week. The mutation could also have left its traces in Vienna’s sewage; a sample taken at Vienna’s main sewage treatment plant tested positive for the new variant in a previous test.
The fact that all the shops, bars and hotels will reopen as of January 25, as expected, should not be a play. Not least due to the development of the new variant, the company held back when it comes to measures after the planned end of the lockdown, Anschober said. The situation is being analyzed throughout Europe and there is close contact between them.
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Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) had already emphasized on Thursday that the situation was “very volatile” and that it was necessary to continue “to proceed with extreme caution. On Friday evening, the federal government in Vienna will discuss how to proceed with the provincial governors, once again for once in person and not just by video.
The red mayor of Vienna, Ludwig, anticipated in advance that “there will be hardening”, although he added that it was only an assumption based on the “dramaturgy of the last days”. In any case, Ludwig warned: “Politicians must act on the basis of knowledge and not on the basis of suspected cases.” In addition, the mayor of Vienna overlooks the federal government’s clear goals on where to go in the fight against the pandemic. With clear goals, the population would be more willing to achieve them, believes the chief of the city. Meanwhile, the head of the FPÖ, Norbert Hofer, demanded in a broadcast that the blockade should not be extended.
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In any case, talks between the government and the social partners are also scheduled for Saturday morning. After that, a decision must be made over the weekend on how things will continue starting on January 25. According to information from the APA, on the one hand it is being discussed whether to stay in a hard lock, but on the other hand, soft opening steps are also possible. The most conceivable thing would be that retailers could unlock, certainly under stricter conditions, such as the requirement to use higher quality FFP2 masks and stricter distance rules. Plans, under which students will transition from current distance education to shift work on January 25, are clearly shaky again.
Demonstrations on Saturday in Vienna
So, while the government deliberates, others want to express their discontent despite the blockade of the streets. By Saturday there have been some demonstrations against the current Corona measures in the center of Vienna. The organizers expect a total of up to 30,000 participants. Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) announced that non-compliance with conditions such as not wearing adequate protection for the mouth and nose or lack of distance would not be tolerated or systematically reported.
In general, the interior minister promised a high police presence for the protests, because several “radical groups” had also called meetings. According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, these include extremist groups from both the right and the left whose clashes have “potential for conflict that should not be underestimated,” Nehammer warned. “While millions of people in Austria have observed exit restrictions and massively reduced social contacts, radical forces abuse freedom of assembly to spread conspiracy theories and extremist ideas.
