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Voluntary mass testing to curb the coronavirus epidemic in Austria is in its third day, but initial interest in Sunday has clearly waned: on Saturday, far fewer people attended the test stations than on the first day.
Trials are underway at three designated locations in Vienna with moderate interest. On Saturday, only 21,329 people showed up for the screenings, while the daily capacity of the filter stations was planned for 150,000 people. The low attendance also surprised health adviser Peter Hacker, who believes that more than 200,000 tests conducted in November could be the reason for the now modest attendance.
So far, 112 positive cases have been found in Vienna.
In Tirol, the extraordinary snowfall and the sentencing time that began on Sunday made testing difficult, so Elmar Rizzoli, head of the testing campaign, suggested postponing Sunday’s screenings until December 8.
Negotiations are still ongoing on this issue. In the province, the number of those who have been tested so far in two days has reached 156,000, but that still represents only 22.65 percent of the population.
The first rapid test in Tirol yielded a positive result in 417 people, representing an infection rate of 0.27 percent.
In the other western province, Vorarlberg, too, fewer people have undergone voluntary testing so far than authorities expected. With almost 90,000 tests carried out so far, 355 positive cases were found, which corresponds to an infection rate of 0.4 percent.
Meanwhile, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz drew attention to the need to adhere to epidemiological precautions even during the full post-lockdown relief, which will take effect from Monday. The prime minister hopes that the discipline of the population will continue the downward trend in infections. Due to the complete closure, the number of new cases per day in Austria is around 6,000
it was cut in half to three thousand.
The reproduction rate, which shows the number of infected people transmitting the virus, has been reduced from 1.13% to 0.83% thanks to the measures.
Sebastian Kurz once again asked citizens to participate in the mass tests as many as possible.
Running a 15-minute quick test can shorten closures by weeks
Said the Prime Minister.
In Austria, 2,741 people have been diagnosed with the virus in the last 24 hours and 303,430 cases of infection have been recorded since the outbreak began. Currently, more than 600 people need intensive care. Of the Covid-19 complications caused by the infection, 83 died, bringing the death toll to 3,840.
(Cover image: Participants in a voluntary mass test to control the coronavirus epidemic in Austria on December 4, 2020. Photo: Jan Hetfleisch / Getty Images)
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