Turnaround in Austria: Chancellor Nehammer announces a withdrawal of central corona measures – despite a further increase in the number of infections. News ticker.
- Austria’s seven-day incidence is around 2400, and the number of infections continues to rise.
- The peak of the omicron wave is expected for the first week of February.
- Nevertheless, important coronavirus protection measures will be withdrawn from February 5th and 12th.
Update from January 29, 4.30 p.m .: Despite the high number of infections, the clinics in Austria are not heavily burdened. This is now prompting the Austrian government to relax further corona measures. As recently as Friday, individual federal states had pushed for an end to the curfew and trade associations for an end to 2G in retail. Federal Minister of Health Mückstein only wanted to tackle further easing after the expected peak of the omicron wave in ten to twelve days.
Now the turning point on Saturday: Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) announces a withdrawal of measures:
- From February 5th, the curfew will be moved from 10 p.m. to midnight.
- From February 12, 2G will be in stores.
- From February 19th, the 3G rule will apply again in gastronomy and tourism instead of the 2G rule.
Austria: Important corona measures are apparently to be postponed
First report from January 28, 3:19 p.m.:
Vienna – The deadline in Austria is February 1, 2022. From this date, the validity of the Corona* vaccination after the second dose will be reduced from nine to six months in Austria. In neighboring Austria, around 490,000 people are affected by the rule, reports oe24.at. Anyone who cannot show a booster by Tuesday will no longer have a valid 2G certificate from Tuesday (February 2nd). Since 60,000 vaccination certificates would expire anyway according to the old rule – nine months – a total of 550,000 people would be affected, the Austrian online portal calculates. Two weeks ago there were still 897,000 people.
In the meantime, many have obviously gotten a booster. According to the Ministry of Health, they were informed via the green passport app via a push message about the expiry of the vaccination certificate. However, those who have deactivated their push setting will not notice it.
Austria: Deadline for expiration of vaccination certificates could be postponed
The expiration date on February 1, 2022 is apparently on the brink, as the ORF reports. The deadline may be postponed or a transitional period introduced. The Ministry of Health said that the question was “in the final vote”. More information should be available on Friday afternoon. The national crisis coordination (GECKO) is also dealing with the postponement of the deadline.
Recently there has been a lot of criticism of the deadline. There will be an exception for under 18s from February 1st. Their vaccination certificate is valid for 210 days – i.e. seven months after the first vaccination series. The vaccination certificate after the booster vaccination is still valid for 270 days – nine months. And exactly: On February 1st, the law on compulsory vaccination will also come into force in Austria.
Despite Omicron: relaxation of the corona measure in Austria
For unvaccinated people in Austria, the lockdown will end next Monday (January 31). Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) promised further easing of the corona measures. Meanwhile, in the Alpine republic, the 2G rule applies in so-called non-essential trade and the curfew of 10 p.m. in gastronomy. But these strict corona rules should fall as soon as possible.
The curfew has long been a thorn in the side of the tourism industry. Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg are pushing for an end to the curfew, Austrian media reports. The ÖVP state governors and the trade association are also insisting on an end to 2G in retail. According to a voice from Tyrol, unvaccinated people should be able to go shopping again. Because for the unvaccinated, the lockdown continues due to the 2G rule in retail and gastronomy.
Omicron wave in Austria – incidence at 2,381
Meanwhile, omicron is rampant in Austria*. 38,631 new coronavirus infections have been recorded in the past 24 hours. This is announced by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Interior. The nationwide incidence is 2,381.2 (previous day: 2,264.5). Tyrol has the highest value with 3,130.4 (previous day: 3,066.6), followed by Vienna with 2,841.1 (previous day: 2,781.1). The 7-day incidence is lowest in Lower Austria (1,908.2) and in Burgenland (1,958.4).
According to Federal Health Minister Wolfgang Mückenstein (Greens), the omicron peak is reached in ten to twelve days. Mückstein, as he said on ORF on Thursday evening, only wants to relax the measures afterwards, depending on the forecast.
Schools in Austria at the limit because of Omikron
The Omicron wave has hit Austria’s schools. In the case of five to 14-year-olds, the incidence is currently 4,7071, as can be found at oe.42.at. According to the Ministry of Education, 2,600 classes and nine schools have switched to distance learning. Face-to-face teaching would take place in 95 percent of the classes. With the PCR tests, the countries are now reaching their limits. The number of positive tests is increasing rapidly. Each individual sample must then be examined again individually in the pool of ten tests.
In Vienna, the PCR tests* at schools are evaluated via the “Everything gurgelt” program. It is the only federal state that conducts PCR tests at least twice a week. In the school tests between January 17 and 22, 6,732 students tested positive for Corona. 387 Corona cases were detected among teachers and school staff, reports standard.at . According to a spokesman, the number almost doubled compared to the previous week. According to the federal capital Vienna, there are 92,347 active cases as of January 27th. (ml)
Europe: Corona rules overview: loosen or lockdown? This is how fundamentally different Europe treats Omikron*. *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
