There was talk of “punitive action by the federal government”, the “ostrich policy takes revenge” and “short and stilted too cowardly”.
The regional party leader of the FPÖ, LHStv. Manfred Haimbuchner emphasized that freedom of movement for citizens within the national territory was one of the most fundamental freedoms in the Second Republic. With such decrees, the federal government is smashing the foundation of democracy: the citizens’ trust in the rule of law and its institutions. The question arises whether the high incidence decree is not generally a targeted “punitive action by the federal government”, after all, the Chancellor only stood up a few days ago and announced that the seven-day incidence is no longer the “leading indicator.” “should be, so Haimbuchner. In addition, those who have recovered would once again fall through the cracks, because they too would have to be tested if they could not yet receive a first vaccination. “This procedure lacks any scientific basis,” stated Haimbuchner.
The club chairman of the SPÖ in the state parliament Michael Lindner sees the exit controls as a direct consequence of the fact that governor Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP) has remained inactive with regard to the upcoming state elections: “Ostrich policy takes revenge.” He now has to present a plan in record time as to how the corona cases in Braunau will fall again and the lives of the 100,000 residents in the district will not be turned upside down from Saturday by daily exit controls. He asked whether the coalition of ÖVP and FPÖ with their different points of view on Corona was the reason for failure in crisis management: The 100,000 citizens in Braunau would now have to pay for this misery – “and after them possibly other districts soon”, asked Lindner in prospect.
“Completely overslept in summer”
The top candidate of the Neos, state spokesman Felix Eypeltauer, warned that Braunau could only be the beginning. There it shows where it will lead if those responsible in federal and state “overslept” the summer and “avoid real pandemic management”. “Both Chancellor Kurz and Governor Stelzer were simply too cowardly to implement effective measures before the Upper Austrian election.” The Neos have been saying for months that a proper vaccination campaign is needed on an equal footing, with experts and in the communities. The social security should finally send everyone a fixed vaccination date, from which one then has to actively cancel. And the tests would have to cost something in the medium term, except for those who cannot be vaccinated.
From Saturday, according to the federal high incidence decree, everyone who wants to leave the Braunau district must be validly corona-tested. If the incidence value of 300 is exceeded on seven consecutive days (mean) with a vaccination rate of less than 50 percent in a district and the intensive care bed occupancy rate exceeds ten percent – i.e. 34 beds in Upper Austria – exit restrictions come into force. Already from April 5th to 11th there was a preventive exit test for the Braunau district.
