There has been talk of this for days, now it's getting serious: Unvaccinated people in Austria are only allowed to leave their homes for urgent reasons.
The result: the willingness to vaccinate is growing significantly.
Vienna - In the fight against the fourth wave of the corona pandemic, a lockdown for unvaccinated people will apply in Austria from this Monday.
Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg and the heads of government of the federal states decided on Sunday in Vienna.
The far-reaching exit restrictions are initially limited to ten days.
About two million people are affected.
Those who do not have a vaccination will in future only be allowed to leave their house or apartment for urgent reasons - such as shopping for daily needs, going to work or visiting the doctor.
Adherence to the regulation should be checked with random samples.
The aim is to increase the willingness to vaccinate and to significantly reduce social contacts.
The seven-day incidence per 100,000 inhabitants in Austria has now risen to around 815.
"Not with a light heart"
"We are not taking this step lightly," said Schallenberg.
But the numbers speak a clear language.
Among the unvaccinated, the seven-day incidence per 100,000 inhabitants is more than 1700. It is now important to finally increase the "shamefully low" vaccination rate.
"With this vaccination quota we will get stuck in a vicious circle." The measure is monitored very consistently and violations are punished accordingly.
The restrictions for unvaccinated people are already great - for example due to the 3G rule in the workplace and the 2G rule in public life.
Tightening has been in place since the beginning of November, which is also having an effect.
The number of vaccinations jumped and is now back to the level of July.
The vaccination rate is around 65 percent - slightly less than in Germany.
Step forward
According to a step-by-step plan by the government, the lockdown for unvaccinated persons should actually only come when 600 intensive care beds have been occupied.
According to the authorities, 433 places are currently occupied.
Because of the high number of infections again, the government has now taken this step forward.
In order to avoid excessive stress on the clinics, experts are calling for a lockdown for everyone.
The government wants to avoid that.
It should be prevented that the willingness to vaccinate decreases again.
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dpa
