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Starting on Friday, December 4, Austria will begin mass testing the population with rapid antigenic swabs, to obtain more information on the circulation of the coronavirus in the country, especially among asymptomatic patients, and to isolate positive people. The massive testing plan was strongly supported by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his government, who ordered 7 million tests – Austria has just under 9 million inhabitants – with the idea of bringing them all within the last weekend before of Christmas and allow a greater reopening.
Citizens will not be obliged to participate in the massive screening, although free for all, and to convince them that the government has bet on its moral responsibility: “A few minutes for a test can prevent the whole country from being blocked for a few weeks”, said. Kurz said. Something similar has already been done in recent times by Slovakia and South Tyrol, which Kurz cited as virtuous examples to promote the Austrian initiative. “The mass tests in South Tyrol were a great success with a large participation of the population (360 thousand participants). This allowed them to regain control and reduce the number of virus reproduction (R.t) from 1.4 to 0.5 “, the chancellor wrote in a tweet on November 28. Alto Adige and Slovakia have managed to test about two thirds of the population, but have 535,000 and 5.5 million inhabitants respectively. It may be more difficult for Austria to reach such high figures.
The mass tests in South Tyrol were a great success with a large participation of the population: 360,000 participated. This allowed them to regain control and reduce the reproduction factor from 1.4 to 05. @ArnoKompatscher https://t.co/qCxHUzMaag
– Sebastián Kurz (@sebastiankurz) November 28, 2020
– Read also: South Tyrol goes alone
The government’s initial plan was to begin evaluating teachers across the country first on the weekend of December 5 and 6, then the police officers and finally the rest of the population on December 19 and 20. However, some of the nine federal states into which Austria is divided, including that of the capital Vienna, have decided to be ahead of the times and have agreed with the central government to be able to carry out all the tests immediately: one of the reasons is that Upon completion Take tests before December 15th, those who will be subject to the 10-day quarantine can be released before Christmas. Hans Peter Doskozil, Governor of Burgenland (the Austrian federal state bordering Hungary), said: “Let’s do the tests first so that as many families can celebrate Christmas as usual.” The result is that each federal state has organized independently.
Austria’s two westernmost federal states, Vorarlberg and Tyrol, will start testing from December 4-6. “It seems to us the ideal date,” said Tyrol Governor Günther Platter, “because it prevents the positive Tyrolean coronavirus from having to be quarantined during the Christmas holidays.” In Voralberg the points to take the test will be 80, open from 7 to 17, mainly in gyms or public buildings; in Tirol there will be points in all municipalities (even more than one in the most populated), with variable schedules. More than a thousand people from the health sector will be on duty during the three days in Tirol; those who test positive for antigen will be informed by text message, email, or phone call and will then undergo a classic molecular swab.
In the capital, Vienna (which is one of the 9 federal states and only has almost 2 million inhabitants), large-scale tests will be carried out between December 4 and 13, for ten hours a day from 8 a.m. morning. This should allow a capacity of 140 thousand tests per day: the expectation is that in the capital at least 1.2 million people will agree to undergo the test, about 60 percent of its inhabitants. You can register online or by phone and reserve a time to avoid queues and crowds. 300 points will be set for pads, for example at the Fair or at the Wiener Stadtalle, generally used for concerts. To manage the flow of people, the government will send the army to Vienna, which will be assisted by medical personnel to collect the samples.
Burgeland State, on the other hand, will drop teachers on December 5 and 6, according to the government’s initial schedule, and will test the rest of the population between December 10 and 15 to avoid too many people at the same time in the test sites. Upper Austria, which has 1.4 million inhabitants, has also thought about something similar, contributing 570 points to perform swabs from December 11 to 14: some 3,500 people will work a day, between medical personnel and registry of people who present themselves to the test. Instead, teachers will be able to do swabs on December 5 and 6, while police officers on December 7 and 8.
The other four federal states (Carinthia, Lower Austria, Salzburg and Styria) are organized on December 12 and 13. The Lieutenant Governor of Lower Austria, Stephan Pernkopf, has guaranteed that 15,000 volunteers will be employed in 800 locations where the test will be possible. Salzburg Governor Wilfried Haslauer said he expects a turnout of around 60 percent of the population (about 300,000 people) and brought the date for the Annaberg-Lungötz municipality forward to December 1 and 2 due to numerous infections that already exist. registered in the area.
The right-wing populist FPÖ (Austrian Freedom Party) initially sided against the government campaign. Dagmar Belakowitsch, parliamentarian and important member of the FPÖ, at a press conference two weeks ago had indirectly invited the population not to participate in the screening: “If you want to celebrate Christmas in peace, don’t let yourself be tested.” Also for this reason, the federal states were pressured to anticipate the tests, in order to make the argument of “Christmas in quarantine” less effective. Belakowitsch herself later denied having suggested a massive boycott of tests.
– Read also: The massive rapid test for coronavirus in Slovakia
Meanwhile, until December 6, the country will remain in total lockdown. The decision was made in mid-November, following a surge in infections that peaked at 9,586 on November 13. The restrictive measures are beginning to show their first results and in the last week the daily infections have remained steadily at around 4-5 thousand. Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 282,000 people have been infected in the country and 3,184 have died from Covid-19.
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