Lockdown or relaxation measures?
Austria’s government will decide today whether to take further opening steps or go further into lockdown. According to the Austrian APA agency, it seems certain that measures will differ according to regions, with the possibility of regional lockdowns.
As there is a dramatic situation in Austria’s intensive care units, which are at risk of being overwhelmed, major easing is not expected. Health Minister Rudolf Anschober has said Austria must "take all necessary measures on Monday so that the intensive care units do not collapse anywhere", according to the Wiener Zeitung newspaper.
Minister vows to take action against right wing extremists at demos
Following both anti-lockdown and anti-fascist demos in Vienna on Saturday, Austria’s Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said he planned to take action against extremists.
He said: "Well-known right-wing extremists, right-wing extremist groups, hooligans and Holocaust deniers use demonstrations as a platform to spread their hate messages”, broadcaster ORF reports.
Saturday’s demo resulted in eleven arrests as well as 1,630 administrative criminal charges and around 20 criminal charges according to the minister.
Will eight million vaccine doses be available by the end of June?
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz believes that 8 million vaccine doses should be available by the end of June, according to the Austrian newspaper Die Presse. Speaking at an interview at the ÖVP Vorarlberg party congress on Saturday he said he is confident the country will return to normality in summer.
However, according to a survey published by the Austrian outlet Profil, many Austrians are not convinced, as 70 percent do not believe all Austrians willing to be vaccinated will have been jabbed by the summer.
Infections now highest in Vienna
The seven-day incidence, or the number of new infections with the coronavirus in the past seven days per 100,000 inhabitants, is 236.4 according to the Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES).
The number is now highest in Vienna (314.0), followed by Salzburg (305.7). The value is still lowest in Vorarlberg (62.2) and Styria (183.9). Around 2,713 new coronavirus infections were reported on Sunday over a 24-hour period.
There are currently 1,885 people in hospital treatment due to the coronavirus, 410 of them in intensive care units.
Corona dashboard shows almost one million people have been jabbed
Almost a million people in Austria have received their first dose of vaccine against the coronavirus. The country’s corona dashboard shows 963.695 people (12.8 percent of the vaccinable population) have received a first dose, while 320.421 people have received both doses.
Comments