Status: 01/26/2022 12:23 p.m
After more than two months, the lockdown for unvaccinated people ends in Austria on Monday – despite a large number of new infections. In the clinics, there is no risk of overloading the intensive care capacities, it said.
In Austria, the lockdown for unvaccinated people will end on Monday. This was announced by Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP). An expert panel set up by the government no longer considers this measure to be sensible. Despite the high number of infections in the current corona wave, there is no risk of overloading the intensive care capacities in the clinics, it said.
However, the 2G rule in large parts of public life remains in place, which, for example, only allows the unvaccinated to shop in shops for daily needs. But from Monday you can leave your home again without a good reason.
The lockdown for people without a full corona vaccination came into force on November 15th. From November 22nd to December 12th, a lockdown with strict exit and contact restrictions also applied to vaccinated people.
High for new infections
In the coming weeks, according to Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens), experts expect the number of new infections to climb to up to 40,000 cases within 24 hours. Most recently there was a maximum of more than 30,000 cases. Taking into account the number of inhabitants, this would correspond to 270,000 infections in Germany. The seven-day incidence in Austria is over 2000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
As soon as the peak of the fifth corona wave has been reached, a decision will be made whether to withdraw the restrictive measures, said Nehammer. The curfew in gastronomy from 10 p.m. is particularly controversial.
Last week, Austria was the first country in the European Union to make general corona vaccination compulsory. The vaccination requirement for all people over the age of 18 comes into force on February 4th. Heavy fines for those who refuse to vaccinate are to be imposed from mid-March. There are exceptions for pregnant women and for people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.