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At a press conference Monday morning, he asked the government to make the appropriate purchases while the tests were still available on the market. Initially these could be used mainly in nursing homes and as mass tests in crowded places, for example at cultural events or in universities and schools.
Video: The most important thing about the press conference
In Austria there is still no exponential growth, but the situation is dire, Rendi-Wagner said. She puts the responsibility for this on the coalition, which relaxed too early and without a plan: “This high increase in infections has been done at home.” In Italy, compared to the population, there are only a third of Austrian cases, which shows that it should not have come to this: “The government is not just one step behind the virus, but two steps.”
To avoid a lockdown that would represent an economic catastrophe, a quick test strategy is now needed. The government had to consider with experts which of the antigen tests would provide the most reliable results possible and then obtain them centrally so that there would be no other stain in Austria. Hurry, because other countries are also aware of the qualitative advances in this test method.
The advantage of rapid tests is obvious to the SPÖ boss. They also need trained staff, but the results are available in 20 minutes. In contrast, PCR tests take a long time before being evaluated and clusters can be spread out. However, Rendi-Wagner does not want to use antigen tests instead of PCR tests, but in addition to PCR tests and gargle tests.
The president of the SPÖ did not want to commit to advancing the curfew, as the federal government in Vienna wants. Rendi-Wagner noted that the city government had opted for a different form of guest registration. If the federal government wanted to advance it, it could order it.
The SPÖ leader believes that the government is not complying especially when it comes to aid to workers and the economy. Weeks ago it became clear that company after company was downsizing. But the government was still sleeping through the summer.
Rendi-Wagner is excited to see what the coalition now includes in its budget. This is a litmus test, “because the budget must be the answer to this labor crisis in numbers and nothing more.”
