[ad_1]
Social contacts will be further restricted throughout Austria, in private celebrations and indoor events only ten people are allowed in the future. In the catering industry, MNS is also mandatory for guests. Consumption is only possible sitting down. The measures will be applied throughout Austria from next Monday.
The government wants to avoid a second blockade
There is an exponential increase in the said numbers Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (VP). “We have to react now to avoid a second blockade,” Kurz said. The infections would occur mainly indoors, in private contact, in private celebrations of all kinds. The chancellor said the number of newly infected people doubled.
Therefore, the government decided to take the following three measures for all of Austria Monday, midnight:
1. Social contacts should be reduced: All celebrations and private events indoors (not on your own four walls) are limited to ten people. There is a limit of 100 people outside. The restriction to a maximum of ten people does not apply to funerals, but not to weddings or other holidays. “Funerals must be carried out in the way that the family wants,” Kurz said.
2. Gastronomy: In the catering industry, where masks were previously required for staff, protection of the mouth and nose is being extended to guests. Consumption is only allowed seated, with a maximum of ten people at a table. The mask should be worn in bars “wherever you are on the move” and just not “when you are sitting at the table”, as the Chancellor said.
3. Obligation to use oral and nasal protection: in commerce, in services, in markets, in religious festivals and celebrations, in public transport, in gastronomy, in public offices.
The government is “aware that it means to resign again.” It is important to prevent the “catastrophic consequences” that would mean another lockdown, Kurz said. As an additional measure, the extension of the VAT reduction for one year was announced.
- Video: Federal Chancellor Kurz presents three new measures against the Corona crisis:
“The situation is serious,” he also said Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Green). Most infections can be traced back to the private sector. For large professional events with assigned seating and a safety concept, including sporting events such as Bundesliga football matches, the existing rules are maintained: 3000 spectators are allowed at outdoor events, 1500 in the covered area.
These limits, which also apply to the cultural sector – theater, operas, concerts – must be “maintained,” says Kogler. There were almost no infections in “sport as such”, and this area works “quite well”. Kogler’s appeal: “Common sense and personal responsibility!”
- Video: Vice Chancellor Kogler on the effects on sport and culture:
The curfew is usually set at 1 am, even for closed events at clubs or private rental venues. Only private apartments are excluded from the ten-person rule and limited-time meetings. Interventions in this area from a fundamental rights perspective would probably not be allowed either. “We are convinced democrats and we accept the rule of law,” emphasized Chancellor Kurz.
Exceptions
The education sector and the labor market are not covered by the ten-person regulation, but where greater attention should be paid to the minimum distance to the closest and hygiene standards. The latter also applies to fitness studies. Training courses with fixed start and end times can only take place there with a maximum of ten participants.
Church services and religious communities are exempt from advertised event restrictions. However, measures were agreed that churches should implement voluntarily.
For nightclubs and discos, the new restrictions are likely to raise existential questions. When asked about this, Kurz commented: “The measures are very tough, but necessary to avoid further damage to the economy and the labor market.” The 2020/21 ball season is also likely to have ended prematurely. This is “from the current perspective, as we had it, unthinkable,” said the Chancellor. “What is possible” will be carried out, he asked for understanding: “We hope that next summer is normal.”
“Matter of concern”
Minister of Health Rudi Anschober (Green) was “clearly concerned” about the increase in hospitalization of corona patients in Austria. 264 patients are currently in normal hospital wards, 55 are also in intensive care units. Compared with the spring, there were already a large number of sick people, during the course of the confinement, these figures experienced a “decrease”.
These numbers cannot be equated, Anschober said, because more are being tested at this time. “We are testing more than ever, 15,000 tests are carried out in 24 hours.” But this curve “should worry us.” So far there has been a “strong dissociation in the number of infections and hospitalizations.” The reason: the average age of those who tested positive is significantly younger. “Our average age in the spring was 58.59 and now we are 34.35 years old. More than 20 years apart.”
- Video: Anschober: “That could go in the direction of an exponential character”
“We have a very wide margin in the forecasts,” Anschober said. If it remains linear for the next two weeks, there will be 650 to 660 infections per day. The other variant represents a significant increase: up to 1,500 cases of infection per day. “Our room for maneuver is still very great,” Anschober said. “This is a phase in which to set the course,” says the Minister of Health with conviction. Therefore, an analysis is carried out every day in a “highly professional manner”.
Around 30 million people around the world have contracted SARS-CoV-2. 940,000 deaths are to be mourned. “These are dramatic developments,” Anschober said. So far, 35,853 have been infected in Austria and 758 have died.
Police intensify controls
That the new regulations are complied with and those who violate the law are punished, guaranteed Home Secretary Karl Nehammer (VP): “The police are prepared and will intensify controls in some areas.” Anschober was confident that the population would accept the new rules of the game: “The majority are awake.” He identified a “race between increasing numbers of infections and increased awareness of risk.” The current package of measures contains “precise answers” to the development of the number of cases, has been coordinated with the Crown Commission and is supported by it, Anschober stressed.
The federal states also have the opportunity to research their areas of competence with their own resources if necessary. The Covid Action Law, which will be discussed in the National Council next week and which will take effect in early October, establishes, according to Anschober, “that countries can implement stricter rules and expanded regulations.”
- Video: Interior Minister Nehammer urges compliance with the rules:
124 new cases in Upper Austria
For the first time since April 2, there are more than 100 new cases of Covid in Upper Austria in 24 hours. The numbers have risen steadily in recent days: After 57 positive tests on Tuesday, the number on Wednesday was 84, and today the country recorded another significant increase with 124 new cases.
Nationally, the number of active cases on Thursday was 7,051, well above Wednesday’s value (6,600). A total of 35,853 people have tested positive so far, 28,044 are considered recovered. 758 people have died as a result of the corona virus since the outbreak of the pandemic.
1.4 million tests so far
The situation in the hospital area is stable. 319 people were hospitalized Thursday for the coronavirus, two fewer than the day before. 55 had to be treated in intensive care units, one more than on Wednesday.
15,272 PCR tests have been recorded in Austria in the last 24 hours, meaning that almost 1.4 million test procedures have been completed since the outbreak of the pandemic. The most crowded event within 24 hours was still in Vienna (6,424), followed by Lower Austria (2,159), Styria (1,675), Upper Austria (1,670) and Tyrol (1,105). At the bottom of the test is currently Krnten, where 415 tests were reported. Salzburg achieved 492, 563 were recorded in Burgenland and 760 in Vorarlberg.
Mandatory mask in the markets of Vienna from Saturday.
In view of the growing number of coronavirus cases, mouth and nasal protection will be mandatory in Vienna markets from Saturday. This was announced by the Councilor for the Environment Ulli Sima (SP) on Thursday. Measures regarding distance rules are also being intensified again.
FP sees “the killer of gastronomy”
The FP sees the new restrictions announced by the government as “the deadly substance for gastronomy.” “With the additional tightening presented today, the black and green federal government is plunging Austria into disaster,” criticized the head of the FP, Norbert Hofer. Hofer was particularly critical of the fact that the announced new measures had not yet been completed. “These are republished at the last minute, without giving those affected the opportunity to prepare for the new situation. That is an intolerable situation.”
