Corona parties are reported to have high season. Despite the lockdown and ban on contact, people meet in larger groups, in some places even knowingly with infected people in order to contract Corona themselves and thus receive a notice of recovery. Pandemic ward manager Thomas Winter confirms that this is not a good medical idea, see article above on the right.
Such parties have only occasionally come into the sights of the police. Not yet in the Braunau district, very rarely in the past lockdowns, as district police commander Martin Pumberger announced on request. Such a party is dissolved, personal details are recorded and reports are made to the responsible district authority. All participants will be reported and punished, affirmed Pumberger.
The current situation is very similar in the Ried district. According to district police commander Stefan Haselberger, there were isolated incidents in the spring, but it is currently quiet in this regard. Several months ago there were several advertisements. In most cases, you became aware of this through information from your neighbors – but often only afterwards. In general, the situation for the police is rather difficult, “because officers are not allowed to simply enter private property without a corresponding reason. Therefore, our room for maneuver – for example, when many cars are parked in front of a house – is rather limited, ”says Haselberger. Still, it’s a bad idea to go to parties like this. “Because if there are controls, then everyone who is found there is liable to prosecution,” the district police commander knows. The relevant district administration decides how high these penalties are. “As the police, we are only the executive organ,” explains Haselberger.
No ads in Schärding yet
Corona parties are not an issue in the Schärding district. “To date, during the tough lockdown and before, the police in the district had not a single reason to intervene or even break up corona parties because of such incidents. No such reports were received here, ”said Herbert Kirchberger, Deputy District Police Commander Schärding. The lockdown measures are monitored as part of the regular patrol duty, whereby – as usual – special checks and additional patrols are planned on a case-by-case basis. “If violations are found, depending on the situation, we proceed with mandates or reports. In the case of minor violations, warnings can also be issued.
The police only act as an assistant body for the health authority and the main responsibility lies there ”, said the deputy Schärdinger district police commander.
“Something like that is crazy and irresponsible”
The head of the pandemic station at the hospital of the Barmherzigen Schwestern Ried, Thomas Winter, on the practice of “contagion parties”.
OÖN: What does a doctor who deals with corona-related seriously ill patients and deaths on a daily basis say that people consciously become infected?
Thomas Winter: I can only describe this as crazy and irresponsible. Those who do this endanger themselves and infect others who become seriously ill and can die of COVID.
How can you get people off this crazy idea?
Attending a corona party increases the number of cases, the intensive care beds remain very scarce and the lockdown has to be extended. Extending the lockdown cannot be our goal.
The opinion is still going around that young people do not get seriously ill …
Young people can also become seriously ill, one in a thousand children becomes seriously ill and has to go to hospital. Young people with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or extremely overweight are particularly at risk.
Have you had anything to do with infected people from infection parties?
I’m sure some of our patients are coming from corona parties. But we doctors don’t ask about it, that’s not our job and we respect confidentiality.
How can you reach these people and get them to vaccinate?
The two RNA vaccines have been tried and tested billions of times since the beginning of the pandemic, they offer very good protection against serious illness and are an important means of preventing further lockdowns and restrictions.
Source: Nachrichten
