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In the future, indoor meetings will be restricted to private. This does not include apartments. There are also new rules for gastronomy: special attention is paid to nightclubs.
Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP), Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (both Greens) and Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) announced, once again, on Thursday “coronavirus updates”. The news this time: to contain the spread of the virus, in the future only ten instead of 50 people will be able to meet privately in an indoor space. The new measure should apply from Monday at midnight.
Private apartments are not affected by the regulations. “We must reduce social contacts,” said the Chancellor. Therefore, all private events are limited to ten people. Group courses, for example in gyms and dance schools, are also affected.
However, professional indoor and outdoor events are still possible, under current regulations. Funerals are excluded from the ten-person limit, but weddings are not.
In the catering industry, only ten people will be able to sit at a table in the future. It can only be consumed at the table. And: in the future, guests will also have to wear mouth and nose protection in all restaurants, unless they are seated.
“Limitations that hurt”
According to Kurz, this would necessitate an exponential increase in new infections and hospitalizations. We must react now to avoid a second blockade with all its implications. The increasing number of infections has already led to travel advisories, which in turn would negatively affect many industries in Austria.
“We know that infections occur indoors,” and especially at private parties, Kurz says. Birthday parties, group outings, joint public viewing of soccer games – there are many infections these days where people feel especially safe. “These are restrictions that hurt,” Kurz said.
Especially the bars, clubs, where people celebrate beyond the curfew, the après soccer area and the markets are currently hot spots for infections, explained Health Minister Anschober. He sees the new measures as a “precise answer” to these problem areas. This also includes a general curfew at 1 am
The police must “intensely control”
How should these measures be monitored? Interior Minister Nehammer, who previously said his role “as a warning” was not “comprehensive”, announced that the police would intensify their controls “in some areas”: In key actions in all federal states, curfew regulations in nightclubs they must be intensively reviewed. “The police are the partner of the population on this path.” Federal states could tighten regulations further. Police should check the regulations exactly, Nehammer said. The police are also ready to “guarantee peace and quiet” in case people do not comply with the obligation to wear oral and nasal protection.
The regulation with the prohibition of ten people does not apply to private apartments. Kurz confirmed that constitutionally it was not possible to issue such a ban. However, it generally assumes that most Austrian apartments are not big enough to hold meetings of more than ten people; rather, regulation means, among other things, closed club rooms and events.
On the sometimes quite different infection situation in the Austrian regions, Kurz said there could possibly be more tightening on the part of the federal states. The Chancellor also mentioned that the VAT reduction would also apply in 2021.
More hospital patients again
The Health Ministry announced the new case numbers ahead of the government press conference. Consequently, in a 24-hour comparison, 876 new corona cases were reported Thursday. This brings the number of confirmed cases to a total of 35,994. There are currently 7051 active cases.
The number of hospital patients has increased to 319. 55 of them are currently in an intensive care unit. 739 people have died so far in relation to Covid-19.
Anchober: two variants for the number of autumn infections
Anschober expressed “clear concern” about the increase in hospitalizations. The current figures cannot be compared to the spring ones, Anschober said, as more tests are being carried out at the moment: “We are testing more than ever, in 24 hours 15,000 tests are carried out.” But: The curve “should concern us.” The number of infections and hospitalizations are still “strongly decoupled”, because: the average age of those who tested positive is currently significantly younger. “Our median age was 58.59 years in the spring and now we are 34.35 years old. More than 20 years apart.”
“We have a very wide margin in the forecasts,” Anschober said. If they remain linear for the next two weeks, they should remain between 650 and 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 to set the course.”
(APA / Red.)
