Austria will extend its third confinement at least until February 8 due to the variant of the coronavirus initially spotted in Britain, which is gaining ground, the government said on Sunday (January 17), as discontent increases in the country.
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"
Our goal is to reopen shops, services and museums on February 8,
" instead of January 25 as initially planned, said Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
“
For schools, it also means a return to class in small groups
” from that date, he added to reporters.
This central European country had decided to confine itself a third time after Christmas and the government had previously announced a return of schoolchildren to class before the end of January.
But it still records around 150 contaminations per day per 100,000 inhabitants.
He set himself the goal of reducing this figure to 50 "in
order to avoid an explosion of contaminations, as in Ireland and Great Britain
" and saturation in intensive care services, said the chancellor.
Social distance of 2 meters imposed
In addition, Austria has decided to impose from January 25 a social distance of two meters between each person in public places, instead of one meter until now.
Wearing FFP2 masks, sold at cost price in supermarkets, will also become compulsory in stores and on public transport.
The government does not plan to reopen restaurants, hotels, gyms, theaters and cinemas, closed since November 3, before the beginning of March at the earliest.
He has planned to extend the emergency aid currently in place to compensate companies and will create new ones.
Read also: To be vaccinated or not to be vaccinated: what is the most risky?
On Saturday, the vice-rector of the University of Medicine of Vienna had rebelled against the support provided by schools which are authorized to provide daycare, while being prohibited from providing education.
“
Teleworking must be made compulsory for parents to take care of the children at home,
” Oswald Wagner said.
But the president of the Austrian trade union confederation Wolfgang Katzian replied that “
all those who think that we can juggle between childcare, home schooling and cooking live outside reality, without doubt about the moon
”.
According to a study, according to the different levels, students have only attended class between 20% and 33% of teaching time, since the first confinement on March 16.
70% of Austrians are calling for establishments to reopen, according to a recent survey.
A controversy is swelling, while the ski lifts have been operating normally since December 24 and the government does not intend to stop them.
“
Apparently, the profits of cable car owners are more important than the future of thousands of children,
” criticized Social Democrat Paul Stich.
Other European countries have given up on the ski season.
7,082 dead from Covid
In Vienna, 52% of students do not speak German at home with their parents of foreign origin and the government promises support when they return to school.
The Austrians have shunned the second phase of massive screening in Vienna, which ends on Sunday.
110,000 tests were carried out and only 0.21% of them were positive, while the army had been requisitioned to perform 900,000.
Austria, which has a population of 8.9 million, has recorded 7,082 deaths attributed to Covid-19.
Between 10% and 20% of people currently infected are infected with the variant discovered in Great Britain, estimates the University of Medicine of Vienna.
