Austria's Corona Summit: Numbers higher “than ever painted” - Chancellor announces tough mask rule

Created: 01/07/2022 05:01 AM

By: Franziska Schwarz, Jennifer Lanzinger

Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer at the Corona-PK in Vienna.

© photonews.at/Georges Schneider / Imago

The corona curve rises steeply in Austria, the number of infections has almost doubled.

The further procedure has now been coordinated as part of the Corona summit.

The news ticker.

• The Corona * numbers in Austria have almost doubled

  (see original report).

• After the Corona * summit, the government therefore announced new rules

  (see updates from January 6th from 2:42 p.m.).

• This news ticker on Corona in Austria is continuously updated.

Corona-PK in Vienna: New rules in Austria at a glance

Update from January 6, 3:17 p.m

.: Austria is reacting to the rapid spread of Omikron with new restrictions and shorter quarantine periods.

The most important of the press conference with Chancellor Nehammer and Health Minister Mückstein at a glance.

• In the future, an FFP2 mask will have to be worn outdoors if a two-meter distance cannot be maintained.

• The trade is obliged to carry out controls so that the 2G rule - i.e. admission only for vaccinated and convalescent - is complied with.

• In order not to endanger the infrastructure, contact persons of infected people can in future be freed from quarantine after the fifth day.

• With daily tests and wearing an FFP2 mask, employees in the critical infrastructure should also be able to continue working as contact persons.

• The “Green Pass” as proof of vaccination will only be valid for six months from February.

PK after corona summits in Austria: "We will all need this protective shield"

Update from January 6, 3:10 p.m

.: From the fifth day onwards, you can free those who have tested positive from quarantine, explains Austria's Minister of Health.

The recommendation for home offices continues to apply.

“This also saves us going to the office,” the WHO recommends this precautionary measure. 

In future, the “Green Pass” will only be valid for six months.

"We will all need this protective shield," warns Mückstein at the end of his speech.

New corona rules in Austria: FFP2 mask requirement also outdoors

Update from January 6th, 3:07 p.m

.: Then Mückstein goes into the new rules: There may be temporary entry bans in restaurants that do not adhere to the requirements.

The distinction between “K1” and “K2” contact persons falls.

"There are now only contact persons," said Mückstein. 

Excluded from this are people who have been vaccinated 3 times

- and people who, without exception, had worn an FFP2 mask at a meeting.

Update from January 6th, 3:04 p.m

.: Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein emphasized at the beginning of his address the 16 million corona vaccinations already administered in Austria.

43 percent of the population has already been boosted: “These are all great successes.” Austria has come through the pandemic well so far.

The available tool kit is easy to use.

Because of Omikron, however, a "paradigm shift" is now needed.

The numbers would be higher "than we had ever imagined", but the courses would be milder.

Video: Vaccination Fraud - Raids across Austria

Because of Omikron: “control package” and “focus actions” in Austria

Update from January 6th, 2:51 pm

: Nehammer announces a “control package” and nationwide “focus actions”.

In addition, there is an obligation to monitor in retail.

So far, compliance with the corona rules has only been checked in random samples.

The sanctions for non-compliance are to be tightened.

"Then we will also have the means to block these operations," said Nehammer.

A new quarantine management system is also needed because of Omikron.

New for example: 3-fold immunized persons should no longer be recorded as contact persons.

Regarding the protective measures adapted to Omikron, Nehammer says: FFP2 masks are effective.

They would also have prevented a flu epidemic last year.

But Omikron is contagious even outdoors.

Hence the planned obligation to wear it outdoors at a distance of less than two meters.

"Whenever I meet people, I have to wear a mask," emphasizes Nehammer. 

Nehammer believes that 20,000 new cases a day are possible because of Omikron

Update from January 6, 2:42 p.m

.: The situation is serious, Nehammer opens the PK.

Mainly because the virus is constantly changing.

What do we know about Omikron so far?

First of all, the Chancellor thanks the scientific community, which is constantly comparing the data.

The country comparison gives politics a time head start.

The infectiousness of Omikron is "enormous".

You have to adjust to a new situation than with Delta.

“That was a completely different situation.” With Omikron, you have to be prepared for the skyrocketing number of cases, Nehammer believes that up to 20,000 new cases per day are possible.

But there is also good news: Omikron runs differently than Delta, and the vaccination (triple) protects 90 percent from a severe course.

Hence the central importance of vaccination.

Corona summit in Austria: PK in Vienna shifts backwards

Update from January 6, 2:26 p.m

.: The PK for new corona resolutions, which was actually planned for 2 p.m., is delayed.

The federal and state governments have been deliberating since 11 a.m.

"With Omikron the cards were reshuffled," said a constitutional lawyer Heinz Mayer in an interview with the dpa.

Because this Corona variant is also more contagious for vaccinated people and they could also spread the virus, the legal sense of the measure is increasingly questionable, he continued.

"If the vaccination does not adequately protect the health system, then compulsory vaccination is not permitted."

Instead of introducing it on February 1 as planned, it could be more appropriate to give the Minister of Health the opportunity by law to order such a step at any time.

Corona in Austria: "System is already about to collapse"

Update from January 6, 2022, 12.40 p.m.:

The Corona summit in Austria is in full swing, the first details are said to have already leaked.

As

to have found out, an FFP2 mask requirement outdoors should be under discussion if a distance of more than two meters is not possible.

In addition, there should be an urgent recommendation to work in the home office in the areas in which work in the home office is possible.

In addition, according to information from the portal, the validity of the green passport is to be reduced to six months.

Another measure is controls of 2G evidence in retail, with the exception of supermarkets.

Corona in Austria - Constitutional lawyer sees the sense of the corona im requirement increasingly questionable

Update from January 6, 2022, 10.55 a.m.:

The corona cases are increasing in Austria, the further course of action is to be discussed on Thursday as part of the corona summit. A corona vaccination light was already decided weeks ago in Austria, but according to experts, it is now on quite shaky feet.

Since the Omikron variant is also more contagious for vaccinated people and they could also spread the virus, the sense of the measure is increasingly questionable, said constitutional lawyer Heinz Mayer on Thursday the German press agency. "If vaccination does not adequately protect the health system, then compulsory vaccination is not permitted." Instead of introducing compulsory vaccination on February 1st, as previously planned, it could be more appropriate by law to give the Minister of Health the opportunity to order such a step at any time, Mayer continued.

“With Omikron, the cards were reshuffled.” In any case, the state must have done everything that could reasonably be expected of it before compulsory vaccination would be legally permissible.

With this step, the Austrian government wants to push the more than one million people without vaccination to inject.

Substantial fines of up to 3600 euros are provided for violations.

With the exception of the right-wing FPÖ, all parliamentary parties have approved the project.

Around 70 percent of Austrians are currently vaccinated.

Recently, however, the willingness to vaccinate has decreased significantly.

Corona summit in Austria today: number of cases almost doubled - "The system is already about to collapse"

Original notification from January 6, 2022:

Vienna - While the coronavirus is spreading again rapidly in Germany after Christmas and the holidays, Austria is also recording a massive increase in the number of infections.

On Wednesday, January 5, 2022, the authorities had reported almost a doubling of the numbers.

On Thursday, the federal and state governments want to discuss the current situation as part of the Corona summit.

Is the next lockdown looming in Austria?

Corona summit in Austria: number of new infections almost doubled - is a new lockdown looming now?

The curve of new infections with the corona virus is rising steeply in Austria.

According to the authorities on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, 9,761 people were infected within 24 hours.

This means that the number of new infections every day has almost doubled again compared to the previous day.

The situation in the normal and intensive care units initially remained stable.

But especially in the federal states of Tyrol and Salzburg, which are popular with tourists, the numbers rose sharply.

The much more contagious omicron variant of the virus has dominated the infection process in Austria since the end of the year.

Individual voices call for lockdown - "the system is already about to collapse"

On Thursday, the federal and state governments will discuss the current situation, and the next steps in Austria will be coordinated at the Corona summit.

As reported

, the deliberations will start at around 11 a.m., and from 2 p.m. Chancellor Nehammer will inform about the decisions in a press conference.

Individual voices from the tourism industry are calling for a quick and rather short lockdown in order to save at least the rest of the winter season.

Due to the numerous quarantine cases among the staff, in some cases the hotel operations can no longer be continued, it said.

"If we don't do anything now, we'll have a de facto lockdown anyway, the system is already about to collapse," said the head of the Kitzbühel tourism association, Christian Harisch, of the Austrian news agency APA.

As

reports, however, a lockdown should not be an option for the time being.

“You want to let the Omikron wave run through much more,” the portal continues.

The restaurants and hotels in the winter sports resorts in the Alps were well attended over Christmas and New Year.

But now the hangover mood follows.

The omicron numbers are increasing.

Several hotels have to close.