Corona: The highest number of new infections in Austria so far – Coronavirus –

The number of new corona infections in Austria reached the highest level of the year on Saturday. The Health Ministry officially reported 1,747 new infections in the last 24 hours. Initially, several national media outlets had reported more than 2,000 new infections. Official figures from the Ministry of Health were only reported late on Saturday at lunchtime.

So far there have been 63,134 positive results in Austria. As of today (October 17, 2020, 9:30 am – online at the Austrian Press Agency from 1:39 pm), 889 people in Austria have died from the consequences of the corona virus and 48,771 have recovered . There are currently 734 people undergoing hospital treatment for the corona virus, and 133 of them are in intensive care units.

The 1,747 new infections since the last report are distributed among the Austrian federal states as follows:

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in Brussels on Friday about the need to curb the sharp rise in new corona infections in his country. “It is exponential growth that inevitably always ends in a lockdown.”

After regions were lit red for the first time at the corona traffic light, new local measures to contain the virus were decided on Friday. After Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens), Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) also announced a tightening for all of Austria. Details are to be decided next Monday.

After the stoplight commission meeting, four districts in three federal states turned red Thursday night. Those affected are Wels-Stadt in Upper Austria, Hallein in Salzburg and Innsbruck-Stadt and Innsbruck-Land in Tyrol. Wels then stepped up security measures at nursing homes and retirement homes on Friday. This was decided for the whole of Upper Austria, as well as a mandatory guest registration in the catering sector. The ordinance goes into effect Tuesday.

In Innsbruck, Mayor Georg Willi (Greens) did not rule out further measures. In the “drawer” are “to be discussed, tightening measures” that further restrict social contacts, reported Willi. But now he will look at “the next few days.”

In a dramatic appeal, Chancellor Angela Merkel called on citizens to help contain the corona pandemic in light of the increasing number of infections. “Now we have to do everything possible so that the virus does not spread uncontrollably. Every day now counts,” CDU policy said in its weekly video message posted on Saturday. “I ask you: Refrain from any travel that is not really necessary, any celebration that is not really necessary. Please stay home, whenever possible, in your place of residence.”

Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) warned of a “loss of control” in some regions of Germany with a view to tracing the chains of infection. “That is extremely dangerous,” said the CSU politician from the “Passauer Neue Presse.”

Merkel said that Germany is in a “very serious phase” of the pandemic. This is spreading rapidly again, faster than at the beginning more than half a year ago. “The relatively relaxed summer is over, now we have difficult months ahead. What will winter be like, what will our Christmas be, will be decided in the days and weeks to come. We will all decide through our actions.”

As of Saturday morning (12 noon), 2,751 people in Vorarlberg tested positive for Sars-CoV-2. 2,053 of them have recovered, 27 people have died. In the period under review, six people were reported to be healthy with 54 new infections. 671 people are actively positive on Saturday morning, an increase of 48 people compared to Friday at 4 p.m.

Most of the active cases are currently in the Bregenz district (242). They are followed by Feldkirch (224), Dornbirn (119) and Bludenz (82).

All the information about the coronavirus in VOL.AT