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Corona in Austria: Hundreds of people miss the deadline when leaving Croatia in traffic jams - reports of brazen cheating

2020-08-18T10:31:07.949Z


In Austria, the corona numbers continue to rise. Travelers returning from risk areas are threatened with immediate quarantine without a corona test. Vacationers from Croatia are now tricking the border control.


In Austria, the corona numbers continue to rise. Travelers returning from risk areas are threatened with immediate quarantine without a corona test. Vacationers from Croatia are now tricking the border control.

  • The number of coronavirus * cases is increasing in Austria. Returnees from vacation make up 80 percent of new infections.
  • Croatia is a corona risk area for Austria. A travel warning could soon follow for the holiday island of Mallorca (see update from August 18, 9.21 a.m.) .
  • From the beach to quarantine? Vacationers from Croatia use tricks to circumvent the strict border controls, reports the media.

Update from August 18, 9.21 a.m.: In contrast to Germany, Austria has not yet issued a travel warning to the holiday island of Mallorca or Ibiza. Austria will soon follow suit with a travel warning for the Balearic Islands . “I hear that there is a negative development on Mallorca,” Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told oe24.at. He does not rule out a travel warning. He suspects that, given the negative developments, experts will recommend one very soon. There is already a travel warning for mainland Spain.

A travel warning has consequences for those returning to Austria: Anyone who wants to travel to Austria from a risk area without a negative Corona test must be quarantined at home immediately . Travelers can present a PCR test in Austria within 48 hours in order to avoid isolation. Some returnees from Croatia try to circumvent the strict controls at the border crossings. Find loopholes. Detours, for example via Hungary (no travel warning) are accepted, reports oe24.at. Most holidaymakers in Croatia understand the controls, while others cheat boldly. For example, you simply state Slovenia (no travel warning) as the holiday destination, they say. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz wants to discuss the issue of border controls with two of his ministers. At the border in Spielfeld, 50 army soldiers are currently helping with the control. Kurz has already called for more health officials at the borders in the past. Croatia vacationers are often a case for the health department in Germany as well. As Merkur.de * reports, hundreds are in quarantine in the Ebersberg district near Munich (Upper Bavaria).

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Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.

© LISI NIESNER / dpa

Corona tests in Austria: gargle water instead of smear

Update from August 17, 9:13 p.m.: Vacationers who return to Germany from risk areas must be tested for the corona virus . This regulation does not only apply in Germany. Austria has also introduced compulsory testing for those returning to travel. At a corona test station in Vienna , the test subjects do not have to endure a smear that is inserted deep into the nose.

Instead, a gargle test brings clarity. A special saline solution has to be gargled for one minute so that particles from the throat stick like a smear. The sample is then analyzed for virus genetic material in a laboratory. According to the test developer, ten samples can be tested at once . If the result is positive, the samples are analyzed again individually. The method was developed by scientists in Vienna and tested for reliability in early summer.

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Martina Fondi from FH Campus Wien demonstrates a gurgle test at a press conference at the start of school in autumn.

© Roland Schlager / APA / dpa / picture alliance

From autumn, the corona tests with gargle water for students and teachers in Austria should provide an overview of the infection situation in schools. A representative group of 15,000 pupils and 1,200 teachers at 250 schools is to be tested every three weeks in order to record symptom-free cases, as Education Minister Heinz Faßmann announced on Monday in Vienna.

RKI is holding back with praise for the new corona tests

The city of Cologne is currently also testing a test procedure with a gargle solution in Germany. If the procedure proves to be as reliable as the smear, gargling in Cologne should largely replace the unpleasant nasopharynx swab, announced the local health department. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) was initially reluctant to use the method. "The sensitivity is usually estimated to be lower than with a good smear," said an RKI spokeswoman on Friday the Tagesspiegel .

Update from August 17, 11:19 a.m .: Hundreds of Austrians did not make it back home in time before midnight - they were stuck in a traffic jam. Around 350 return travelers therefore had to fill out a form and go into quarantine , reports the Austrian media. The travel warning for Croatia has been in force since Monday. There is no transitional regulation for such cases in Austria. Croatia vacationers can submit a negative PCR test within 48 hours.

In Vienna returnees from Croatia wait for hours for a free corona test. As ORF.at reports, the City of Vienna has set up a drive-in and walk-in for Covid tests at the Prater Stadium. The center went into operation on Sunday at 12.30 p.m. The rush was enormous, almost 700 tests were carried out - the waiting time was several hours. Instead of a nasal swab, however, a gargle procedure is used for the first time.

Coronavirus in Austria: After travel warning - 40,000 Austrians "on the run" from Croatia

Update from August 17th, 7.41 a.m .: Croatia has developed into a corona hotspot. The Balkan country reported 151 new infections and thus 1,185 active corona cases on Sunday. A travel warning for Croatia came into force in Austria on Monday night . Thousands of people wanted to travel home from their holiday destination on Sunday evening. At the borders everything was at a standstill at times (see update August 16, 11:40 a.m.) . Those arriving from Croatia must present a negative PCR test or be tested in Austria within 48 hours. Border controls have been tightened. It is randomly checked and asked about the whereabouts. As reported by the Austrian media, there were 40,000 Austrians on the Adriatic beaches of Croatia at the weekend.

In contrast to Germany, Austria has not yet issued a travel warning for Spain and the Balearic islands of Mallorca and Ibiza. As reported by oe24.at, according to Foreign Minister Schallenberg, Austrians should also be prepared for a travel warning for the popular holiday destinations. The development is worrying.

Coronavirus in Austria: "The virus comes to Austria by car" warns Chancellor Kurz

Update from August 16, 6.15 p.m.: Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is very worried about a severe setback in the fight against the corona pandemic : "The virus comes to Austria by car." He appealed to the population in a press statement : “I have a big request to the population: Please, be careful. The numbers are rising again, the corona pandemic is not over yet, and we have to do everything to protect health in Austria, but above all to prevent a second lockdown so that jobs and the economy are not endangered ”.

Therefore, the ÖVP boss called for the border controls to be expanded by the health authorities. For those returning from vacation in Croatia, there is the possibility of being tested for free upon arrival . Should the health authorities reach their limits, the armed forces would also be available. Kurz went on to say that younger people in particular are now infected with the coronavirus and do not show any symptoms themselves. However, these would pose a threat to other parts of the population.

Austria's corona numbers at April level: Briefly warns of lockdown - "massive introduction of the virus from Croatia"

Update from August 16, 11.40 a.m.: From midnight, a travel warning for Croatia applies in Austria . Austrians who are there have been asked to return. According to krone.at, there is now a large wave of returnees - which leads to traffic jams at the borders . Especially on the Slovenian border to the north and at the border crossings at Spielfeld and Nickelsdorf, drivers currently have to be very patient.

Already around 20 kilometers from the Slovenian border near Macelj in the direction of Maribor, hardly anything was progressing on Sunday morning. Drivers have to expect around 2.5 hours of waiting, according to krone.at.

In many countries in Europe, fear of the corona numbers rising again is growing. A politician is now warning of new infection hotspots - the danger is "very real".

The corona numbers in Italy have also risen. The country immediately took drastic measures.

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Playing field: Traffic jams at the border between Austria and Slovenia.

© Erwin Scheriau / APA / dpa

Austria's corona numbers at April level: Briefly warns of lockdown - "massive introduction of the virus from Croatia"

Update from August 15, 5:55 p.m .: After Chancellor Sebastian Kurz sounded the alarm about a "massive introduction of the virus from Croatia" and a travel warning for the Balkan state will apply from Monday (August 17) in Austria, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober ( Green) measures announced.

His ministry officially announced that all vacationers in Croatia would be offered an extended test offer. "For everyone who has or will be returning from Croatia between Friday, August 7th and next Monday, August 17th at midnight, a new additional test offer will be launched on Monday," said Anschober.

Even people without acute symptoms can be tested for the corona virus free of charge. A telephone hotline has been set up for this purpose.

Corona in Austria: Federal Chancellor Kurz warns of a new lockdown

Update from August 15th, 11:23 am : The Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is still concerned about the increase in the number of infections after the travel season - and even uses the word “lockdown” as a warning: “We must do everything to prevent the spread of the To stop the virus without us performing a second lockdown . "

"There is a massive introduction of the virus from Croatia," said Kurz - he now wants to introduce stricter controls on those returning from vacation at the borders. Anyone entering from a risk area must present a negative coronavirus test or go into a ten-day quarantine. Here, too, must be more strictly controlled. He also did n't want to rule out direct tests at the borders .

With 303 new coronavirus cases , the number of those who tested positive in one day in Austria has not been so high since April:

In the night from Friday to Saturday 303 new coronavirus cases were reported in # Austria, more than since April 12, 2020. After Croatia, Foreign Minister Alexander #Schallenberg does not rule out further travel warnings because of the increasing numbers. pic.twitter.com/Q4viUVgWdT

- Medical Association for Vienna (@aekwien) August 15, 2020

Coronavirus in Austria: travel warning issued for Croatia

Update from August 14, 2:29 p.m.: It was not until noon that Austria issued a travel warning for all of Croatia . The new figures from the vacation country support this decision. Because with 208 new infections within 24 hours, Croatia reached a new record. Never before have so many infections been measured in one day since the beginning of the pandemic. There are now a total of 961 corona cases there .

Corona in Austria: There is a travel warning for all of Croatia

Update from August 14, 1:03 p.m .: Austria issues a travel warning for all of Croatia . The travel warning comes into effect on Monday night. From midnight on August 17, a travel warning for the Balkan country will apply, the Foreign Ministry announced in Vienna on Friday. The highest security level six applies. Austrians who are currently in this country are urged to go home.

A US study has now come to a terrifying result: According to this, the coronavirus is probably more deadly than the Spanish flu.

Corona in Austria: Politician calls for travel warning for Balkan state

Update from August 14th : The increasing number of corona infections among travelers returning to Austria continue to cause explosives. The focus is particularly on holidaymakers from Croatia - returnees from the Balkans. Tyrol already intensified the “health checks” on the Brenner on Thursday (see first report). Governor Günther Platter (ÖVP) is now calling for a travel warning for Croatia . In the last few days alone, at least 20 positive coronavirus tests have been recorded in Tyrol that are directly or indirectly related to a stay in Croatia, the state announced.

Corona: Record increase in Austria - now the country fears especially those returning from the Balkans

First report from August 13, 2020

Vienna - The corona numbers in Austria continue to rise. In some federal states of the Alpine republic, new infections have risen dramatically. The number of active corona cases is currently 1,523 (70 more than the day before), reports Orf.at. Of these, 747 coronavirus infections are currently active in Vienna . In the past 24 hours, 91 newly infected people have been added, the city's medical crisis team announced on Wednesday (as of 8 a.m.). The number of hospital patients, on the other hand, has fallen slightly.

Coronavirus in Austria: Returning travelers let infection numbers skyrocket

Most of the infections in August took place within the family , but the development would also have to do with people returning from their travels, explains Vienna's State Health  Councilor Peter Hacker in an oe24.at interview. The trend is increasing, not just in Vienna. "My colleague from Vorarlberg told me that 80 percent of all cases in his federal state can be traced back to people returning from traveling ," says Hacker. In his opinion, this topic is an integral part of the strategy for the next few weeks and months.

Hacker criticizes the government's promise to tighten border controls will not be kept. “In Vienna we get the result of what happens at the borders”. The processes would have to be changed. Vienna has no external border. A self-filled sheet with an obligation to self-quarantine simply does not work as a control. Hacker expects a further increase in the corona numbers in the fall at the start of school. It's just a contagious disease. In the next few weeks it will continue to increase.

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Rising corona numbers in Austria: returnees supposedly bring the virus with them.

© Angelika Warmuth / dpa

In the last few weeks, more and more cases of infected Croatia vacationers in Austria have become known. In Germany, too, more and more travelers are bringing in the corona virus. New corona infections in Croatia are increasing. So far there has been no travel warning for Croatia in Austria. In Germany, too, the popular holiday destination is not yet on the list of corona risk areas published by the Robert Koch Institute.

Corona virus in Austria: Balkan returnees checked at the Brenner

It is still unclear whether there will soon be a compulsory corona test when entering Austria. As reported by krone.at, returnees from the Balkans on the Brenner Pass near Tyrol have been subject to health checks since Thursday . The controls at the border crossing had been tightened. The state of Tyrol and the police would be supported by 18 army soldiers. Previously, travelers returning from the Balkans had avoided the controls at the border crossings in Burgenland, Styria and Carinthia via Tyrol. In Tyrol, there were also 20 new corona infections in connection with a stay in Croatia in the past few days. (ml)

Whether you have to cancel the planned Croatia vacation from Germany * is still questionable. Meanwhile, Great Britain has declared France a risk area. Thousands of British tourists tried to get back home as soon as possible. * Merkur.de and wa.de are part of the Ippen-Digital network

List of rubric lists: © INGRID KORNBERGER / dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-08-18

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