Today in Austria: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Every weekday, The Local brings you an English-language summary of the news you need to know in Austria.
Vaccine mandate to be passed today
Today's the day that Austria's law making vaccines compulsory is set to be passed in the National Council, where it is expected to get a large majority with only the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) voting against.
Austria will become the first place in Europe except the Vatican City to introduce such a mandate, though other countries have moved in a similar direction. Greece has begun issuing fines to unvaccinated over-60s, Italy has made the jab mandatory for everyone over 50, while a full vaccine mandate for the general population has also been discussed by politicians in Slovakia and Germany for example.
In Austria, the first fines won't be issued until mid-March and even then it will be possible to avoid the fine by getting the Covid-19 vaccine within two weeks.
Protests are expected in central Vienna during the day, but there is a ban on holding protests within 300 metres during a meeting of the National Council which means police have refused permits to several demonstration organisers. One rally has been confirmed on Maria-Theresien-Platz between 7am and midnight.
At-home antigen tests to be accepted for 3G again (but not in Vienna)
Self-tests for Covid-19 will once again be accepted as 3G in all of Austria except Vienna, after the government updated its guidelines to allow regions and the healthcare sector to cope with a sharp rise in new cases.
In order for them to be accepted as 3G, the test must have been recorded in an official system and verified. The test results will be valid for 24 hours from the time of testing.
Salzburg to send SMS to people who test positive for Covid
The new system comes into effect from tomorrow, Salzburger Nachrichten reports. This is to take some of the pressure off overworked contact tracers who were previously aiming to phone confirmed cases.
The text will contain a link where recipients can enter information about their isolation.
Austria records a new all-time high for daily Covid cases
A total of 27,677 new infections were reported in the 24 hours up to Wednesday, the Health and Interior Ministries confirmed on Wednesday afternoon (this was revised slightly from earlier statements).
According to Austria's Covid Forecasting Consortium, the Omicron wave has not yet reached its peak and around 40,000 daily cases can be expected next week.
Vienna gets its first Queer Museum
And now for something non Covid-related. Since the start of 2022, Vienna's Folklore Museum has been hosting the Queer Museum Vienna, the first specifically LGBTQ-themed museum in the Austrian capital which will remain at the Folklore Museum until June.
Price hikes on consumer goods
Electricity and fuel costs have risen significantly in recent months, but it's not only your monthly bills where you might feel the pinch.
Rising production costs are being passed onto consumers in other areas, with IKEA Austria confirming price hikes of nine percent and is one of multiple retailers raising their prices for consumers according to Salzburger Nachrichten which lamented "a lot of fun things are getting more expensive".
Lovers of baked goods are affected too, with prices for bread and pastries likely to rise by around 15 percent according to the Chamber of Commerce, again due to higher energy prices.
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Vaccine mandate to be passed today
Today's the day that Austria's law making vaccines compulsory is set to be passed in the National Council, where it is expected to get a large majority with only the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) voting against.
Austria will become the first place in Europe except the Vatican City to introduce such a mandate, though other countries have moved in a similar direction. Greece has begun issuing fines to unvaccinated over-60s, Italy has made the jab mandatory for everyone over 50, while a full vaccine mandate for the general population has also been discussed by politicians in Slovakia and Germany for example.
In Austria, the first fines won't be issued until mid-March and even then it will be possible to avoid the fine by getting the Covid-19 vaccine within two weeks.
Protests are expected in central Vienna during the day, but there is a ban on holding protests within 300 metres during a meeting of the National Council which means police have refused permits to several demonstration organisers. One rally has been confirmed on Maria-Theresien-Platz between 7am and midnight.
At-home antigen tests to be accepted for 3G again (but not in Vienna)
Self-tests for Covid-19 will once again be accepted as 3G in all of Austria except Vienna, after the government updated its guidelines to allow regions and the healthcare sector to cope with a sharp rise in new cases.
In order for them to be accepted as 3G, the test must have been recorded in an official system and verified. The test results will be valid for 24 hours from the time of testing.
Salzburg to send SMS to people who test positive for Covid
The new system comes into effect from tomorrow, Salzburger Nachrichten reports. This is to take some of the pressure off overworked contact tracers who were previously aiming to phone confirmed cases.
The text will contain a link where recipients can enter information about their isolation.
Austria records a new all-time high for daily Covid cases
A total of 27,677 new infections were reported in the 24 hours up to Wednesday, the Health and Interior Ministries confirmed on Wednesday afternoon (this was revised slightly from earlier statements).
According to Austria's Covid Forecasting Consortium, the Omicron wave has not yet reached its peak and around 40,000 daily cases can be expected next week.
Vienna gets its first Queer Museum
And now for something non Covid-related. Since the start of 2022, Vienna's Folklore Museum has been hosting the Queer Museum Vienna, the first specifically LGBTQ-themed museum in the Austrian capital which will remain at the Folklore Museum until June.
Price hikes on consumer goods
Electricity and fuel costs have risen significantly in recent months, but it's not only your monthly bills where you might feel the pinch.
Rising production costs are being passed onto consumers in other areas, with IKEA Austria confirming price hikes of nine percent and is one of multiple retailers raising their prices for consumers according to Salzburger Nachrichten which lamented "a lot of fun things are getting more expensive".
Lovers of baked goods are affected too, with prices for bread and pastries likely to rise by around 15 percent according to the Chamber of Commerce, again due to higher energy prices.
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