Table of Contents – Foreign – Agreed: Schools and shops open in Austria

In Austria, epidemiological restrictions are being relaxed so that schools and shops can open after February 8, writes Kronen Zeitung.

The government had been negotiating with opposition politicians and experts for several hours, which ultimately resulted in a compromise that was announced by Sebastian Kurz.

The Chancellor stressed that the measures had managed to curb the epidemic, so that now the restrictions could be relaxed in some places, although in other areas regulations on the epidemic were even being tightened. However, he also warned that new variants are already spreading in Austria, which is why the numbers are currently stagnant.

So today is just an opportunity to take the most careful steps.

He declared.

He then summarized which reliefs would be introduced from February 8.

• The schools will reopen and, starting February 8, education will be delivered face-to-face in the lower two grades of primary schools. Students will be tested in schools and only those who produce negative results will be able to attend classes in person. Others must participate in distance education. Higher grade students are divided into two groups according to the MTI, the first group participates in school education the first two days of the week, the second on the third and fourth days of the week. On Friday, all upper secondary students receive distance education. The test is also mandatory for tracking.
• Hair and beauty salons may also open on February 8, but all their customers must have a coronavirus test that is no more than 48 hours old. It will be mandatory to carry FFP2 masks in stores as well as keep your distance: in grocery stores they can receive 10, while in other stores they can receive a maximum of one customer for every 20 square meters.
• People who live in two different households during the day (maximum: four adults) can now meet together, but the curfew is still in place between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
• They can also open cultural institutions (museums, zoos, libraries), but here it will also be mandatory to wear the FFP2 mask and they will have to limit the number of people.
• However, the number of penalties for violating the use of masks and mandatory distance maintenance will be increased, the exact amounts were announced Tuesday.
• Border controls are also tightened to prevent the spread of new mutations. More information will be announced on Tuesday.

The chancellor also asked people to stay away from others in their privacy in order to maintain these reliefs.

Sebastian Kurz also spoke about the government’s goal of keeping the number of new infections in triple digits, preferably up to 700 per day.

The Minister of Health, Rudolf Anschober, for his part, spoke about Easter

Carinthia Governor Peter Kaiser also noted that the compromise will ultimately not change regulations at the regional level, but will apply the same regulations to all provinces.

Tyrolean Governor Günther Platter also drew attention to the fact that the reliefs do not apply to tourism and hospitality and will have to wait until March for the opening.

It is a bitter pill that sadly they have to swallow

The politician added.