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Government accused of causing 'chaos' as Austria returns to lockdown

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Government accused of causing 'chaos' as Austria returns to lockdown
People stand outside of the traditional annual Christmas Market in front of Vienna's city hall in Vienna, Austria on November 15, 2021. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP)

Austria was back in lockdown on Monday with shops, restaurants and Christmas markets closed just as the festive season begins. The lockdown is the most severe Covid restrictions Western Europe has seen in months.

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The decision has prompted a fierce backlash, with tens of thousands taking to the streets, some blaming the government for not doing more to avert the latest coronavirus wave crashing into Europe.

As of midnight, Austria's 8.9 million people are not allowed to leave home except to go to work, shop for essentials and exercise. The Alpine nation is also imposing a sweeping vaccine mandate from February 1st -- joining the Vatican as the only places in Europe with such a requirement.

Battling a resurgent pandemic almost two years since Covid-19 first emerged, several countries on the continent have reintroduced curbs, often choosing to ban unvaccinated people from venues like restaurants and bars. But not since jabs became widely available has a European Union country had to re-enter a nationwide lockdown.

Austria's decision punctures earlier promises that tough virus restrictions would be a thing of the past. Over the summer, then chancellor Sebastian Kurz had declared the pandemic "over".

READ ALSO: How Austria has reacted to the new nationwide lockdown

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But plateauing inoculation rates, record case numbers and a spiralling death toll have forced the government to walk back such bold claims.

After taking office in October, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg criticised the "shamefully low" vaccine rate -- 66 percent compared to France's 75 percent -- and banned the un-jabbed from public spaces.

When that proved ineffective at squelching the latest round of infections, he announced a nationwide lockdown of 20 days, with an evaluation after 10 days. In the hard hit region of Upper Austria the lockdown will last at least a week longer, and for unvaccinated people it is also expected to continue past 20 days.

Schools will remain open, although parents have been asked to keep their children at home if possible. Working remotely is also recommended.

Political analyst Thomas Hofer blamed Schallenberg for maintaining "the fiction" of a successfully contained pandemic for too long.

"The government didn't take the warnings of a next wave seriously," he told AFP. "The chaos is evident."

 While many Austrians spent their weekend ahead of the stay-at-home order enjoying mulled wine or finishing shopping, a crowd of 40,000 marched through Vienna decrying "dictatorship".

Andreas Schneider, a 31-year-old from Belgium who works as an economist in the Austrian capital, described the lockdown as a "tragedy".

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, especially now that we have the vaccine," he said.

Called to rally by a far-right political party, some protesters wore a yellow star reading "not vaccinated", mimicking the Star of David Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust.

Alongside the "worried" citizens are others who "are becoming radicalised", Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said on Sunday, the same day around 6,000 people protested in the city of Linz.

READ ALSO: How did we get here? Why Austria is bringing in lockdowns again

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Elsewhere in Europe -- as infections soar and anti-Covid measures get stricter -- frustrations have also erupted into demonstrations, with some marred by clashes with police.

Over 130 people have been arrested in the Netherlands over three days of unrest sparked by a Covid curfew, and in Brussels on Sunday, officers fired water cannon and tear gas at a protest police said was attended by 35,000.

In Denmark, around 1,000 demonstrators vented at government plans to reinstate a Covid pass for civil servants.

"People want to live," said one of the organisers of the Dutch protests, Joost Eras. "That's why we're here."

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