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After the Ischgl debacle in March, Austria managed to get the Crown crisis under control. Now the number of infections is increasing rapidly and the federal government has issued a travel advisory.
Bad news for everyone hoping for a ski vacation in the Austrian Alps: The federal government issued a travel warning for much of the Alpine republic after the crown situation worsened in the country of nine million people.
On Friday, the Vienna Ministry of Health reported 2,571 new infections in one day, more than ever and the third day in a row. The number of new reported corona infections has once again reached a record high in Austria. 3,614 cases were reported within 24 hours on Saturday, up from 2,571 the day before, according to the Interior Ministry and the Health Ministry. The number of new cases reported in seven days increased to 172.1 per 100,000 inhabitants. For comparison: according to the Robert Koch Institute, this value is currently 68.4 in Germany.
The Foreign Ministry in Berlin now warns against travel to the federal states of Vienna, Tirol (with the exception of the Jungholz community) and Vorarlberg (with the exception of the Kleinwalsertal / Mittelberg community), Salzburg, Upper Austria, Lower Austria , Burgenland and Styria.
Austria: mask requirement also applies to ski lifts
On Sunday (October 24), the stricter hygiene measures by the Austrian government will also take effect. So only a maximum of twelve people can gather inside for events, in restaurants the mask requirement also applies to guests (except for eating). In Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg there is a curfew for restaurants starting at 10 pm, in the rest of the country it is 1 am The mask requirement also applies at the ski lifts. The ski and snowboard schools form groups of a maximum of ten people. A lively après-ski with a crowd, singing and dancing will not exist in these conditions.
So is it time to bury the hope of a winter vacation in the Austrian Alps? “It is exponential growth that inevitably always ends in a lockdown at the end,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) warned in mid-October. At the same time, it looks at how Austria can remain open and attractive to vacationers. After all, tourism contributes almost six percent to Austria’s economic output, and foreign visitors spent more than € 20.4 billion in 2019. And the government has already succeeded with its crown measures.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP): “There is exponential growth in the sense that it inevitably always ends in a lockdown at the end.” (Source: Sven Simon / imago images)
Austria has learned from the Ischgl Corona debacle
Apart from the Ischgl debacle, Austria has so far weathered the Crown crisis lightly. After moving in March Thousands of vacationers infected at the Tyrolean ski resort and had spread the virus throughout Europe, the Vienna government took strict measures. Public life was closed, schools, universities and shops had to close, tourist traffic was severely restricted, and the holiday season ended prematurely.
In early April, Austria was one of the first countries in Europe to introduce mandatory masks for shopping and public transport. The number of infections was significantly reduced and stabilized at a low level; meanwhile, requirements such as the mask requirement have been relaxed. The numbers have risen again since the summer, slowly at first and faster and faster recently.
The Vienna government is still confident that it will be able to avoid a second blockade. The measures introduced should be sufficient to control the infection process, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) said in Vienna on Friday. In any case, it is “very, very optimistic.”
