Today in Austria: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Every weekday, The Local brings you an English-language summary of the news you need to know in Austria.
How testing could change in Austria
Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein has advocated a return to the use of at-home antigen tests if the number of new Covid cases continues to rise sharply and it is no longer possible to offer free PCR tests for all.
Crisis committee Gecko suggested such a change last week, to prioritise offering PCR tests for key workers such as those in hospitals and schools.
Mückstein told Austrian media that the government was discussing these possible changes with Gecko, which could come into effect as early as this week.
Property prices soar in Austria's ski regions
The pandemic has seen an increased interest in second homes in Austria's holiday areas, with a continued clear impact on prices.
In 15 popular ski areas in Austria, the prices for apartments rose by an average of 12 percent from €6700 to €7500 euros per square metre in 2021, according to data analysis by the real estate portal ImmoScout24 cited by ORF.
Kitzbühel is the most expensive place to live, where prices rose by 24 percent to reach €13,979 per square metre.
Austria's Stopp Corona app comes to an end
The Ministry of Health is ending its funding for the Stopp Corona app, as Die Presse was first to report.
The app was a way to inform recent contacts of a Covid infection, which was used around 17,000 times, but now Austria is focusing on other tools such as its Green Pass.
Updated quarantine rules for Vienna kindergartens
From today, new rules about Covid quarantines in Vienna's kindergartens come into effect, meaning they only need to close after two confirmed Covid cases instead of one.
More and more Austrian companies are only hiring fully vaccinated employees
"We see that more and more companies want their employees to be vaccinated for safety reasons," said Austrian Labour Minister Martin Kocher at a press conference on Tuesday.
By federal law, 3G (proof of either vaccination, recovery from Covid or regular negative tests) is required for employees in workplaces where they can't rule out close contact with others (excluding a few jobs such as truck drivers). The government has said this will remain the case even after the vaccine mandate comes into effect in February, but individual companies can choose to go a step further and require 2G.
Vienna tops global travel lists for 2022
If you're reading this you probably already know the charms of the Austrian capital, and it's being recognised in global travel lists.
The UK's Independent named it first in its list of the best cities to visit this year, and Vienna also made Bloomberg's 'Where to go in 2022' list. Bloomberg invited readers to "go on a cookie crawl" and hailed the capital as a "small, walkable gem".
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How testing could change in Austria
Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein has advocated a return to the use of at-home antigen tests if the number of new Covid cases continues to rise sharply and it is no longer possible to offer free PCR tests for all.
Crisis committee Gecko suggested such a change last week, to prioritise offering PCR tests for key workers such as those in hospitals and schools.
Mückstein told Austrian media that the government was discussing these possible changes with Gecko, which could come into effect as early as this week.
Property prices soar in Austria's ski regions
The pandemic has seen an increased interest in second homes in Austria's holiday areas, with a continued clear impact on prices.
In 15 popular ski areas in Austria, the prices for apartments rose by an average of 12 percent from €6700 to €7500 euros per square metre in 2021, according to data analysis by the real estate portal ImmoScout24 cited by ORF.
Kitzbühel is the most expensive place to live, where prices rose by 24 percent to reach €13,979 per square metre.
Austria's Stopp Corona app comes to an end
The Ministry of Health is ending its funding for the Stopp Corona app, as Die Presse was first to report.
The app was a way to inform recent contacts of a Covid infection, which was used around 17,000 times, but now Austria is focusing on other tools such as its Green Pass.
Updated quarantine rules for Vienna kindergartens
From today, new rules about Covid quarantines in Vienna's kindergartens come into effect, meaning they only need to close after two confirmed Covid cases instead of one.
More and more Austrian companies are only hiring fully vaccinated employees
"We see that more and more companies want their employees to be vaccinated for safety reasons," said Austrian Labour Minister Martin Kocher at a press conference on Tuesday.
By federal law, 3G (proof of either vaccination, recovery from Covid or regular negative tests) is required for employees in workplaces where they can't rule out close contact with others (excluding a few jobs such as truck drivers). The government has said this will remain the case even after the vaccine mandate comes into effect in February, but individual companies can choose to go a step further and require 2G.
Vienna tops global travel lists for 2022
If you're reading this you probably already know the charms of the Austrian capital, and it's being recognised in global travel lists.
The UK's Independent named it first in its list of the best cities to visit this year, and Vienna also made Bloomberg's 'Where to go in 2022' list. Bloomberg invited readers to "go on a cookie crawl" and hailed the capital as a "small, walkable gem".
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