Covid today Austria, total lockdown is triggered

Austria in lockdown from today, November 22, 2021, to counter the new wave of Covid infections. The closure covers all 24 hours of the day. An initial assessment of the effects of the closure will be made after 10 days. It is not excluded that the measure may be extended after the expiry of 3 weeks if the contagion situation does not improve and if the intensive care units, now at the limit of capacity, will not be able to free up beds. According to the latest data in Austria, the incidence has reached 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The Austrian government has also decided that it will make vaccinations against Covid-19 mandatory starting February 1st. Only about 66% of the 8.9 million Austrians are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe. shops to buy essential goods. Most restaurants and bars will only be able to provide takeaway lunches, while cultural events are suspended. As for sporting events, they will only be held behind closed doors. On the other hand, schools remain open, with parents having the right to decide whether or not to send their children to class.As the Minister of Health, Wolfgang Mückstein explained, the 2G rule – which allows a series of activities only to vaccinated and recovered people – it did not produce a sufficient slowdown in infections. For this, a “3 week lockdown” is necessary. “It is still an imposition, but it is the most reliable tool,” the minister said last week, announcing the crackdown. The country, the first in Europe to close everything for the fourth covid wave, will make the vaccine against Covid mandatory starting from February 2022 while the third dose can be administered even after only 4 months from the last. MANDATORY VACCINE AND THIRD DOSE, THE PLAN The government is pushing for the revision of the guidelines of the vaccination plan: in the meantime it will be possible to receive the booster, the third dose of the vaccine against Covid, already after four months. In parallel, changes to the Green pass will be introduced, with more stringent controls and more severe penalties. The start of the legislative process for the introduction of the vaccination obligation in the first quarter of 2022 is expected in a short time: the date indicated by the media is 1 February, but it is possible that the plan will develop in phases and by bands LOCKDOWN, THE RULES In this period, smart working is strongly recommended. In indoor workplaces, the Ffp2 mask will be required. At school, students will have to wear masks during class. “There are too many political forces campaigning against the vaccine, the consequences of this are clogged ICUs and enormous human suffering,” Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said in press conference in which he announced the new national lockdown. “It was not easy to make this decision, no one likes to adopt measures that limit freedom”, added the premier, saying that this decision is necessary because “too many of us have behaved without solidarity.” “We do not want a fifth, a sixth and a seventh wave “, said the chancellor, speaking of a lockdown that” will have enormous consequences “, but it was necessary. A “difficult” decision he then underlined when speaking of the vaccination obligation from 1 February. An assessment of the impact of the lockdown will be made after 10 days and at the latest on 13 December it will end for the vaccinated population or for those who have recovered from the virus, while it will remain in force for those who are not immunized (for them the confinement began last Monday) he added. “Despite months of persuasion we have not been able to convince a sufficient number of people to get vaccinated,” complained the chancellor, accusing those who did not do so of being responsible for “attack on the health system”.