Corona loosening in Austria: the masses are already lining up again

Corona crisis: Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his government in Austria are relaxing the situation. Follow all developments here in the news ticker.

• Corona crisis : Austria is relaxing its exit restrictions.
• For some time now , the number of newcomers has exceeded the number of newly infected people.
• A village doctor from the Ischgl epicenter now explained the outbreak of the coronavirus .
• 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, 9:50 p.m .: Test run for the auto industry in the coronavirus pandemic .

In Graz in Styria, the automotive supplier Magna Steyr has started up its production again with the highest safety precautions with 2,500 employees.

The Kleine Zeitung reports. The G-Class from Mercedes-Benz is mass-produced at Magna Steyr.

From April 20, vehicles for the BMW Group and Jaguar Land Rover will also be produced again. In the rest of Europe, however, the auto industry has come to a standstill because of the corona crisis .

Corona in Austria: Salzburg removes quarantines for eight municipalities

Update, 9.30 p.m .: In Pinzgau and Pongau, two out of five districts in the state of Salzburg near the Bavarian border, quarantine in eight out of nine communities ended at midnight - including in the tourist and local resort of Zell am See .

Only in the Altenmarkt community was the quarantine extended by two days, as there were several coronavirus infections in the local retirement home.

Zell Am See: Two people enjoy the fresh air in a park on Lake Zell. The State of Salzburg has announced the lifting of the quarantine in eight municipalities, including Zell am See.

© dpa / Expa, Jfk

On the Easter weekend, on the other hand, the federal state of Tyrol extended the quarantines for the Paznaun valley with the towns of Ischgl and Galtür as well as for St. Anton am Arlberg and the well-known winter sports town of Sölden in the Ötz Valley by two weeks.

Corona in Austria: Strict rules when shopping for loosening

Update, 9:15 p.m .: Despite the easing in the corona crisis, there are clear rules when shopping: wear a mouthguard, keep a minimum distance, access only for healthy customers.

For example, retailers in Vienna use posters at the entrance to their stores to indicate that people with the following symptoms are not allowed to enter the store: fever, cough, shortness of breath and / or difficulty breathing. In addition, only one customer can get in on an area of ​​20 square meters.

Vienna: Park sheriffs, who are used for park surveillance, stand with mouth guards in front of the entrance to the Volksgarten. The Vienna Federal Gardens are open again.

© dpa / Roland Schlager

While long lines were forming in front of hardware stores this Tuesday, there was no rush in other sectors. The citizens obviously have to get used to the regained freedoms.

Large shopping centers are also due to reopen on May 2nd. Cafes and restaurants as well as other restaurants are closed until at least mid-May.

Coronavirus in Austria: Vienna with the most corona patients

Update, 9 p.m .: Vienna currently has the most corona patients . The news portal oe24.at reports.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 14,159 people had tested positive for the pathogen Sars-CoV-2 , according to a report by the Ministry of Health. 7,633 people suffering from corona were therefore considered to have recovered.

384 deaths from coronavirus infection were counted, currently there are 243 seriously ill people in intensive care units, the ministry said.

The most affected federal state is still the capital Vienna with 1,437 registered corona cases . This development is not surprising since Vienna is an international hub and, with around 1.9 million inhabitants in the country with 9 million inhabitants, it is by far the largest city.

Corona crisis in Austria: from a state of emergency back to normal

Update, 4:33 p.m .: Austria was in a state of emergency for four weeks. Despite the coronavirus pandemic , the country now wants to gradually ease the measures imposed, and numerous shops are already open again.

Smaller businesses such as perfumeries or boutiques benefit from these first steps. But DIY stores and garden centers can also welcome customers again.

And just in Austria there are long queues in front of the shops - with face masks and spacing, but still: many Austrians are queuing in front of those shops that are now open again.

In Austria, long lines form in front of the shops.

© Eibner press photo / Spiess / Eibner press photo / EXPA / Spiess

Update from April 14, 3:10 p.m .: In the course of promising developments in the Corona * figures in Austria, the government has now drawn a positive interim balance. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Tuesday in Vienna, "We are on track" . The discipline and perseverance of the population had led to a loosening of the regulations, a first step towards “new normal” for Chancellor Kurz

Corona in Austria: Chancellor Kurz sees Austria on the right path

"As much freedom as possible, as much restrictions as necessary" continues to be the guideline in the Alpine Republic. Kurz, however, did not count on such a large rush to hardware stores, as was reported in many places. But even there, customers would largely adhere to the instructions. All shops are now scheduled to open by May 2, and restaurants could open from mid-May.

According to Health Minister Rudolf Anschober, the increase in registered cases for ten days has been less than three percent a day. The growth rate was recently only 0.8 percent, Anschober said. The number of infected people only doubles every 39 days.

First report from April 14th : The new easing of the corona restrictions in Austria has been in effect since April 14th . Shops that are smaller than 400 square meters can open again, as well as garden centers and hardware stores. However, an area of ​​20 square meters must be available per customer. From May 1st, hairdressers should now also be able to offer their services to customers. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz described the innovations to combat the corona virus * as a cautious step "towards normality". Kurz thanked the people in Austria for their staying power.

Thank you for the good cooperation in the federal government over the Easter holidays & a big thank you to you, dear Austrians. Please stay strong & keep going.

Corona in Austria: New easing demands enforcement of new rules

The deal with the population: In return for the easing , a number of new rules must now be observed in Austria. Mouth-nose protection * is mandatory in local public transport ; the area must also be covered in retail . The general safety distance of at least one meter must also be observed everywhere. Until the end of the month, the Austrians are only required to go to the front door under certain conditions . Working, shopping or walking is allowed, as is helping people in need.

The Ischgl ski paradise is one of the places where the coronavirus * broke out. Calm has now returned, but the negative headlines are endless. The area has already been described as the “virus thrower of Europe” , and many of the inhabitants of the town, which largely lives from tourism, are desperate.

Corona in Austria: Village doctor from Ischgl explains the spread - he tested the first Corona case

Village doctor Andreas Walser is known in Ischgl, here he is known as a doctor with a distinctive mustache. It was on March 7th that Walser subjected a bartender to a popular après-ski bar in the village to a corona test *. This is positive, the first corona case in Ischgl was official. According to the agency for health and food security, the bartender was not the first virus carrier, as the Focus reports.

"This first patient came to us with a severe flu-like infection," says Walser , who carried out the test * "due to the symptoms and the medical history". Only later did the man tell "that there is feedback about guests who have traveled home and who tested positive for Covid-19 * at home". At the time of the first documented case, however, according to Walser, there was no case of the lung involvement typical of the virus - "neither with us, nor in the hospital, nor in the Innsbruck clinic". Already on March 5, the authorities received the news that 15 Icelanders had been infected in Ischgl. However, Tyrolean authorities assume that the infection took place on the plane .

Corona in Austria: Tyrol fights against the bad image in the crisis

When a quarantine * is imposed on March 13, tourists are still allowed to leave the valley. More than 70 percent of the more than 4,000 people who had been infected with the Coronavirus * in Tyrol in March came from Germany . The majority of them stated that they had been in Ischgl. This explained consumer protector Peter Kolba. He accuses the authorities of acting too slowly and adds: "We assume that this was the case for commercial reasons". The Tyrolean head of state Ingrid Felipe from the Greens now wants to work on the situation. It wants to counteract the blanket judgment against Tyrol in the Corona crisis.

* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.

Rubric list picture: © AFP / ROLAND SCHLAGER