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They are called the “virological quartet”: Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (VP), Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler, Health Minister Rudi Anschober (both Greens) and Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (VP). On Friday, when the “Corona traffic light” was presented, they were reinforced: the spokesperson for the Corona Commission, Daniela Schmid, contributed her expertise as an epidemiologist.
Group photo with the lady: government members Nehammer, Kogler, Kurz, Anschober, epidemiologist Schmid
Image: APA
The first stoplight decision partially triggered a jump. Because with Vienna, Linz, Graz and the Kufstein district in Tyrol, four regions jumped from “green” to “yellow”. The consequence: toughening of the mask requirement in retail, gastronomy, events and schools. This is the result of the “medium risk” rating. Anschober said of the “yellow” regions that this evaluation “is not a cause for drama”, because “the cities have more difficulties”, so there is no reason to reproach. He also claimed that there were six other regions close to the yellow card, including Innsbruck, Wels and the Linz-Land district. Anschober explicitly warned that green “has no carte blanche. We must continue to be careful.”
- Video: Corona’s traffic light begins with four yellows
Kogler called the first stoplight change a call to the federal states, because there are still differences in the speed of testing and contact tracking. A competition is needed here, “the goal is still 24 hours until the infection is reported and contacts can be traced.” This goal must be reached in the fall: “Gemmas on!” Kurz called on the health authorities to work transparently and precisely. Schmid called the semaphore an “instrument in progress” that is constantly being improved.
The exact legal basis is still missing; It should arrive at the end of September with the amendment of the Law on Measures and Epidemics. Then, starting in October, the stricter rules on the number of visitors for events in the “yellow” regions will apply. The next traffic light change will take place on Friday; any color change is explained weekly in a press conference.
Luger will take action after all
Linz Mayor Klaus Luger (SP) made it clear late Friday that he would implement the strictest crown measures in the Upper Austrian capital. The prerequisite for this is that the government creates the legal requirements for this. If the government observes the rule of law, then of course it has to do so too, Luger said in the “ZiB2.”
In an initial reaction to the fact that his hometown was “yellow,” Luger said he did not want to implement the measures (such as a mask requirement in retail). He justified it with the fact that the government could not issue more than a recommendation without a legal basis. If the prerequisites are set by law or regulation, then you must meet the requirements: “There is absolutely nothing to discuss.” Meanwhile, the city chief does not understand that Linz was changed to “yellow”.
The mayor had the support of Governor Thomas Stelzer (VP). Luger previously went to court with the government on Friday for the state capital rating: the Corona traffic light was a “real false start, coincidentally a blunder.”
- Video: The mayor of Linz Luger and the virologist Puchhammer-Stckl at the traffic light in Corona
“We were somewhat shocked, not to say horrified,” Luger said of the traffic light classification in Linz, which he described as “arbitrary and unrelated to reality.” Linz is ranked 32nd among districts for corona cases per 100,000 inhabitants (seven-day average), far behind Innsbruck, Wiener Neustadt or Salzburg, and the number of infected people is decreasing. As Chief Magistrate Ulrike Huemer also said, there is no regulatory base. Stelzer confirmed: “The yellow card for Linz is incomprehensible and cannot be traced on the basis of objective figures.”
Who can prescribe?
As for the legal force of the Corona traffic light, opinions differ. Linz takes the position that at least nothing will change until there is a legal basis or a binding federal ordinance. “The constitutional service of the Chancellery and the top lawyers of the advisory council for legal matters confirm that the Minister of Health has the competence to also prescribe the announced measures of oral and nasal protection at the regional level,” Anschober told the ON. This ordinance should arrive no later than next Friday.
You have to ask yourself if a measure is understandable to people. In this case, it is not. Thomas Stelzer, Governor (Vice President)
Image: Volker Weihbold
Stelzer contradicted this: “In our legal opinion, the federal government can only impose a mask requirement at the national level and not for individual districts, nor can the state impose a mask requirement for a single district.” According to Stelzer, legal responsibility currently rests with the mayor.
