Jubilee Post News & Views
Special Desk
After working upon a partial lockdown for unvaccinated people, Austria has now decided to go complete lockdown, starting Monday. Earlier partial lockdown was to begin the same day.
Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said it would last a maximum of 20 days and there would be a legal requirement to get vaccinated from 1 February 2022. He was responding to record case numbers and one of the lowest vaccination levels in Western Europe.
“We don’t want another fifth wave,” said Schallenberg after meeting the governors of Austria’s nine provinces at a resort in the west of the country. Many other European countries are imposing restrictions as cases rise.
For a long time, there had been a consensus over avoiding mandatory vaccinations, the chancellor said. However, too many people had been incited not to get the jab, because of “too many political forces, flimsy vaccination opponents and fake news”, he added. The measures are yet to be finalised.
Latest figures show an incidence rate of 990.7 cases per 100,000 people in the past week, and Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein said imposing a lockdown was their last resort.
Under the measures, Austrians will be asked to work from home, non-essential shops will close, and schools will remain open for children who require face-to-face learning. They will continue until 12 December, but will be reassessed after 10 days.
Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg had earlier said regarding the decision. Statistics put, about 65% of Austria’s population is fully vaccinated – one of the lowest rates in Western Europe. Unvaccinated people were already barred from visiting restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas, but will now stay home.
Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger has already announced that what he called a lockdown for the unvaccinated would start on Monday, and the Czech government is also limiting access to a variety of services. The Netherlands introduced a partial lockdown last weekend.
German leaders have agreed to introduce restrictions for unvaccinated people in areas with high Covid hospital admissions that would affect 12 of Germany’s 16 states.
