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Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) has not ruled out a closure of the border with the Czech Republic in the fight against the spread of the corona virus. “If the Czech Republic cannot extend its emergency measures, then it must be clear that the Czech Republic is an area of mutation and then the closure of the border must also be a problem,” Söder said Wednesday night in the ZDF. “heute- diary”.
This also applies to Austria. “We are very unsure about Austria,” Söder said. The Vienna government has imposed quarantine measures in the state of Tirol, severely affected by the South African variant of the virus. “In Tyrol, hey, nobody cares,” Söder said. “I am concerned that there is a risk of a second Ischgl.”
If the areas were defined as areas of mutation, there would be almost no travel opportunities, Söder said. Now it is only possible to cross the border from the Czech Republic to work.
The Berlin Foreign Ministry had already warned against all unnecessary tourist trips to Austria.
Austria’s economy is suffering especially the consequences of the virus
The neighboring German country will be particularly affected economically by the pandemic. The Austrian economy contracted 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a list by the EU statistical authority Eurostat. No other EU country has reported such disastrous figures for the end of the year so far. Compared to 2019, it was only worse in Spain.
Austria is suddenly very low in the short-term statistics for Europe. As unemployment rises, research institutes lower their forecasts. The problems particularly affect the important tourism sector. The hotels have been closed to tourists since November. Time and again the government has postponed the reopening: first it was mentioned since the beginning of December, then since the beginning of January, then in mid-January, while Foreign Minister Sebastián Kurz has also excluded February. And March is equally questionable given the still high number of infections.
