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Relaxation in Austria: schools, shops and hairdressers open in a week
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Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz at a press conference at the Chancellery on Monday
Source: AFP / HELMUT FOHRINGER
In Austria, shops, schools and hairdressers can reopen from next Monday, with one condition. The rules of contact are also relaxed. Sebastian Kurz emphasizes that he weighed the risk of mutations against the consequent damage in the confinement.
reThe Austrian government decided to partially relax the harsh blockade of February 8. Commerce, schools and bodily service providers such as hairdressers, museums, galleries and zoos can reopen under strict conditions, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) said on Monday.
In schools, the lessons will be taught in part in shifts. Only those students who can be tested can participate. Hairdressers and other services can also be used only with a test that takes no more than 48 hours. As in Germany, the use of an FFP2 mask is mandatory in retail.
Exit restrictions currently in effect throughout the day have been limited to the time between 8 pm and 6 am. Two households are allowed to meet during the day. On the other hand, entry regulations would be tightened to prevent the introduction of more virus mutations from other countries. Variants of the corona virus, such as those in Brazil, should be avoided, he said.
“Mutations devour blockade success to some extent”
“Please don’t understand this selective easing as a solution,” Kurz said. If the number of infections increases, it must be sharpened again immediately. Faced with the mutations, the Chancellor warned of exponential growth and again called on the population to limit social contacts.
“Mutations are spreading, especially in the British, but also in the South Africans, and to some extent they eat away at the success of our confinement,” Kurz said. Epidemiologically, the problem is clear, admitted the Chancellor: “The safest way would be to remain locked up.” But it is also aware that children have the need to go back to school. Furthermore, every effort should be made to keep unemployment as low as possible.
According to the Ministry of Health and the Interior, 1,124 new infections were counted in one day. Despite the restrictions, the number has only slowly decreased in recent weeks and is well above the government’s target of around 700 new infections per day in early February. In the country of just under nine million inhabitants, 7,778 people have so far died from a Covid-19 infection. The seven-day incidence on Monday was 105.8 new infections per 100,000 residents. In Germany, this value is 91.
After a short relaxation before Christmas, Austria is in its third hard lock since December 26. When the opening steps for restaurants, hotels and sports and culture are expected will be decided on February 15.
