Austria will further ease COVID restrictions
Austria will begin easing restrictions on COVID-19 next week, Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced on Saturday, allowing shops and restaurants to remain open longer and easing restrictions on the unvaccinated,
Ukraine , Ukraingate , 30 , January , 2022 Internation News
Details
These steps are due to the fact that the coronavirus variant Omicron leads to a reduction in the number of hospitalizations, despite the large number of infected.
According to Nehammer, from February 5, Austria will continue to operate restaurants and shops until midnight and increase the number of people who can participate in events from 25 to 50.
“It’s a good thing, despite everything in this difficult situation – the numbers of hospitalizations at a good level, the number of beds in intensive care, I think, to be fair, at a very good level,” Nehammer told a news conference in Vienna.
“Now we can open new perspectives that will give people a break,” he added.
In Austria, the number of new cases of coronavirus infection per day is growing due to the highly contagious version of Omicron: almost 35,000 new cases were registered on Saturday.
However, the pressure on the hospital has eased as Omicron has less severe consequences, and the current wave of Omicron is expected to peak around February 7-9, Health Director-General Katarina Reich told a news conference. .
As a next step, from February 12, Austria will repeal the so-called “2G rules”, which prohibit those who have not been vaccinated or cured of the virus to visit stores with non-essential goods.
As of November 15, those who had not been fully vaccinated had to be on lockdown, meaning they were only allowed to leave their homes for a limited number of reasons, such as buying essentials or working. The event, which was repealed on Christmas Day, December 25, has been criticized as too difficult to enforce.
Last week, Austria set January 31 as the date for ending the tougher lockdown for the unvaccinated, lifting restrictions on their movement.
However, they are still prohibited from engaging in a variety of leisure activities, including eating in restaurants or buying non-essential items, as part of the government’s efforts to increase vaccination, one of the lowest in Western Europe.
Now, in addition to permission to shop from February 12, Austria will also ease measures banning unvaccinated people from visiting restaurants – from February 19, Nehammer said, saying that those with a negative COVID test will be able to visit restaurants and tourist attractions .
Addition
Austria will lift quarantine for non-vaccinated against COVID-19 from 31 January.
Source: Ukrgate
