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Due to the massive increase in new corona virus infections, Austria is severely restricting public life. “From Tuesday, November 3 at midnight until the end of November, there will be a second closure in Austria,” Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) said on Saturday.
Exit restrictions apply nationwide between 8 pm and 6 am During this time, you are only allowed to leave the apartment for specific reasons. Cultural and leisure facilities must be closed, as well as the hotel and hospitality industry; only take out and deliveries are allowed.
Sports without spectators, children with masks
With the exception of top-level sport, the events are no longer held, but without an audience. Recreational sports are only allowed outdoors without physical contact. Retailers and service providers, such as hairdressers, remain open. Children up to grade 10 must “for the time” continue in kindergarten and, with the requirement of a mask from the age of six, go to school, high school and students must study from home.
“You need to take this step to avoid overloading intensive care medicine,” Kurz said. “Our goal is to gradually reopen in December and get back to a reasonably normal life.”
Parliament’s main committee has yet to approve the measures on Sunday afternoon. The ordinance is valid until November 30, exit restrictions must be approved by parliament every ten days.
Most infections in people “who know, who like”
The number of infections in Austria has risen to new highs almost daily for weeks. The government fears that hospitals will soon be overloaded. On Saturday, Austria tallied 5,349 new cases in 24 hours for its nearly nine million residents, after a record 5,627 new infections in one day were reported on Friday.
In the last seven days there were an average of 301.1 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants, in the federal states of Vorarlberg and Tyrol even significantly more than 400 each.
“Most infections occur with people who know each other, who like each other,” Kurz emphasized. Therefore, he called the night-out restriction “a de facto ban on visitors.” It is allowed to leave the private living space between 8 pm and 6 am to relax in the open air, for basic needs, for family care or support, for work or in case of danger.
Do not “search” in private spaces
The regulation also contains contact restrictions, according to which only people from two households can meet at home. However, the regulation could be legally challenged as private space in Austria is strictly protected by the constitution. “The police will not start searching private homes,” Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) said.
Finance Minister Gernot Blümel (ÖVP) promised that compensation should be paid quickly. The affected companies should receive up to 80 percent of their sales for the comparison period -an average month of the previous year-, a maximum of 800,000 euros. Blümel estimated the total costs at around € 1 billion.
