Austria is getting to grips with the coronavirus pandemic. Now Sebastian Kurz's government wants to tackle the economic consequences of the corona crisis. The news ticker.
- Corona virus in Austria : Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's (ÖVP) government is increasingly relieving tension in the corona crisis * .
- Innkeepers and restaurateurs in Austria receive tax discounts, in retail and public transport a mask requirement applies between Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck .
- Here you will find the basic facts about the corona virus * and the corona news from Germany. You can also find current case numbers in Germany here as a map *. The following recommendations for corona protective measures * are currently available .
Update from May 12, 8:30 p.m .: These statements should make many winter sports fans in Germany pay attention. Governor Günther Platter (ÖVP) has announced drastic changes in the direction of Tyrolean tourism after the Ischgl debacle in the Corona crisis .
Corona crisis in Austria: Tyrol wants to change tourism after the Ischgl debacle
Means: The Austrian state wants to do something against its party image - and therefore focus more on nature and relaxation.
“It is now crucial that we get tourism going again. There has been a national and international debate about tourism in Tyrol , "Platter explained at a press conference:" Of course there are undesirable developments, there are irritating images. "
“Irritating images” presumably mean sequences of wildly celebrating guests in Ischgl . The small community with its 1,600 inhabitants has long been considered a party mecca in the Alps - but that should be the end now.
Deserted: the Tyrolean Ischgl in April 2020.
© AFP / JOHANN GRODER
He was critical of the fact that day tourists "come (by bus) to the ski areas where you don't go skiing, but only go partying," said the ÖVP politician: "We don't need this area in our tourism". Instead, one now has to “respond to developments where corrections are needed”. New accents were needed, he explained, "a rivalry between the population and tourism".
According to krone.at, the Management Center Innsbruck (MCI) was therefore instructed to develop a new concept for tourism in Tyrol. In addition to Ischgl, Sölden in the Ötztal and St. Anton am Arlberg are party strongholds, not just for skiers.
Ischgl is considered a super spreader in the corona crisis , among other things, a number of tourists from Germany and Iceland are said to have contracted the party with the pathogen Sars-CoV-2 and then carried the virus to their home countries. Platter: "We have to avoid irritating images."
Corona crisis in Austria: discussions around the epidemic law
Update of May 12, 20 h: Even Austria's southern neighbor gets the coronavirus pandemic slowly under control.
But Italy is now seeing drastic economic consequences from the Corona crisis - including immense public debt.
Update from May 12, 12:05 p.m .: According to two experts, companies in Tyrol are entitled to compensation under the Epidemic Act . Tyrol's tourism businesses were closed in mid-March due to the spread of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus .
This was done on the basis of the Epidemic Act and this also provides for compensation. However, the Corona regulations issued by the authorities are not. This reports the oe24.at.
The epidemic ordinances of March 13, dormant on the basis of the Epidemic Act, were repealed by the state of Tyrol on March 26 and in turn replaced by ordinances based on the Corona laws.
The Viennese lawyer Peter Sander spoke to the "Tiroler Tageszeitung" and said that the attempt to undo the epidemic law was "highly unconstitutional". This was also followed by the constitutional and administrative law professor at the University of Vienna Daniel Ennöckl . Sander therefore assumes that a claim for compensation applies "for the period from March 13 or March 16 to March 26".
Coronavirus in Austria: "Regulations based on this law are not affected"
Furthermore, there is a note in the corona laws that the epidemic law remains unaffected. "This does not affect the regulations that are based on this law," said Sander.
According to Sander, claims for compensation could even apply until May 15, as there was a risk of infection with the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus up to this date in taverns. Ennöckl contributed to this that, in his opinion, a company closure under the Epidemic Act can only be lifted if the company no longer poses a risk to the coronavirus.
This debate could also play a role for Salzburg, Carinthia and Vorarlberg. Similar regulations have been issued here.
Corona virus in Austria: government Kurz wants to act against "war profiteers"
First report from May 11th: In mid-April, at the height of the Corona crisis , more than 600,000 Austrians were on short-time work . For the comparatively small EU country with its nine million inhabitants, this was a high number of workers and salaried workers who received their salaries from the state in this phase.
As in Germany, the coronavirus pandemic in Austria has a major political concern: the abuse of this short-time working model.
The Finance Minister of the Alpine Republic, Gernot Blümel from the ÖVP, has now announced tough action against tax evaders in the Corona crisis . According to the Kleiner Zeitung from Graz , around 350 financial police officers nationwide checked a total of 5,119 people in 1,946 companies at 1,205 locations.
According to Blümel, 460 violations, i.e. violations, were found. A complaint was filed against 31 people. They now face severe penalties for violations of the Wage and Social Dumping Control Act.
Corona crisis in Austria: Clear words from Finance Minister Gernot Blümel
For example, three construction workers whose company had registered short-time work were found on a construction site in the Waldviertel in Lower Austria. According to the Kronen Zeitung, Finance Minister Blümel has therefore announced that he will take action against "war profiteers".
Masks on: Werner Kogler (The Greens, left), Vice Chancellor of Austria, and Gernot Blümel (ÖVP), Minister of Finance of Austria.
© dpa / Hans Punz
"I have no understanding that certain people make a basket with tax money in the crisis," said the minister, and nevertheless praised short-time work as a "very effective model" in the Corona crisis .
Corona pandemic in Austria: government briefly passes “inn package”
At the same time, the Austrian government presented Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) a € 500 million “inn package” on Monday to support the particularly hard-hit catering industry due to the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic .
In this way, the government wants to cover part of the fixed costs for restaurants, taverns and pubs. In addition, as Blümel explained, innkeepers should “pay up to two thirds less tax”.
* Merkur.de is part of the Germany-wide Ippen-Digital editors network