Tight restrictions are easing a bit in Austria

The one-off restrictions in Austria from November 17 due to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic will be eased on December 7, but only in certain areas and with certain restrictions in place, he announced. Sebastian Kurz Chancellor of Austria on Wednesday after the government meeting.

It is difficult for everyone to overcome a complete short circuit, but with the downward trend in the number of new diseases, we can see that it has been effective,

stressed the chancellor. “But we must not forget that the epidemic is not over yet, the virus is still here among us and the numbers associated with the infection are still high,” explained the prime minister in the cautious reopening.

Kindergartens and primary schools may open on Mondays, while distance education will remain for upper grades and secondary schools. The only exceptions to this are graduation classes, but students will also need to wear a mask to school.

Business units may also open on December 7, subject to strict security regulations. However, in addition to wearing a mask, they also stipulate that only one customer for every 10 square meters can be in the store.

Karl Nehammer the Interior Minister promised a greater police presence in shopping centers and called the public’s attention not to rush the stores as soon as possible on the first day of opening, since, according to him, “there is plenty of time to have everything until Christmas ”.

According to the MTI, the current 24-hour curfew will only cover the period from 8 am to 6 pm, on Monday. The number of private meetings between members of two different households has been set at 6, which I would like to increase to 10 during the Christmas period.

Due to the bad experience of the summer, when 30 percent of the infections were from returnees from abroad, the government is imposing strict entry restrictions for the Christmas period.

The entry restrictions in effect from December 19 to January 10 apply to countries where the 14-day sickness average, which is an average of two weeks per 100,000 inhabitants, exceeds 100. This is true for practically all neighboring countries today.

With this measure, they want to curb the masses of people who travel home at Christmas to avoid more presentations after the holidays. Anyone who decides to travel anyway will have to deal with a 10-day quarantine when they return to Austria and will only be able to prove themselves on the fifth day of the quarantine.

The Kurz government has opted for an intermediate solution to the issue of winter tourism, which has also sparked a political debate in recent days: although the ski slopes and lifts may open on December 24, hotels and restaurants will remain closed. until January 7. “This means that you can ski, not just in the form of a multi-day vacation,” said the chancellor.

It was not German pressure that gave way, but the development of the epidemic curve that led to a downward trend, but it is still too high, the prime minister added. Restaurants can only carry take out food between 6 am and 7 pm Locations, bars and nightlife will be closed.

In Austria, the number of new cases per day is trending downwards due to the total closure currently in force, but it is still very high. On Wednesday, 3,972 new infections were reported and the number of deaths increased by 121. Since the start of the coronavirus epidemic, 289,461 people have been infected in Austria and 3,446 have died from complications of virus-induced Covid-19 disease.