After the corona easing at the beginning of the month, further opening steps should have followed tomorrow, Thursday. The spread of the delta variant has now mixed up these plans.
Instead of loosening, as reported, tightening will come into force – at least in night-time catering, where in future access will only be granted with proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test. And further tightening could follow: On Thursday, the Federal Government’s Corona Task Force will meet again.
The new rules for night gastronomy were the result of last week’s meeting, as was the retention of the registration requirement in restaurants and events, which should be abolished on July 22nd.
The Mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig (SP), canceled a further step yesterday: The mask requirement remains in place in all retail in the capital, and mouth and nose protection must be worn inside (again) at cultural events and in the cinema. Ludwig justified the decision: “Too high numbers have an impact on Vienna as a business location and would therefore also have a negative effect on employment figures.”
In response to a request from the Ministry of Health yesterday, a message from the Ministry of Health said that the previous plan would be adhered to with the mask requirement, i.e. mouth and nose protection would only be necessary for daily indoor use (e.g. in supermarkets, drugstores, pharmacies, banks ).
For this, Minister Wolfgang Mckstein (Green) continues to insist on stricter handling of those returning from traveling: Those who return from risk areas should, if not vaccinated or recovered, provide a PCR test proof, an antigen test should no longer suffice.
Expand risk areas
If Mckstein has its way, the list of risk areas should also be expanded; in Portugal and Spain, for example, the number of new infections has recently increased rapidly. Mckstein’s office did not want to answer which countries could be on the list.
Even the Chancellery only said yesterday that they did not want to “anticipate the deliberations”. It is possible that the experts recommend stricter measures for both the mask requirement and entry.
Mckstein had already called for tightening the number of travelers returning the previous week, but did not get through to the Turkish Chancellor’s party. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (VP) instead spoke out in favor of more motivation to vaccinate.
Against teacher vaccination
The government still does not want to discuss compulsory vaccination. Education Minister Heinz Famann (VP) also issued calls for compulsory vaccination for teachers (see box for details) yesterday with another rejection. According to Famann, he rejects a “pure lex specialis only for one professional group”. Teachers’ union Paul Kimberger also thinks little of it. Relying on “education and motivation” has already brought a lot, around 80 percent of the educators have been vaccinated.
The number of corona cases is increasing internationally, and restrictions are being reintroduced in some cases. An overview:
France: “We have entered a fourth wave of the virus,” said Gabriel Attal, spokesman for the French government, on Tuesday. For the first time since May, France recorded more than 10,000 new infections within 24 hours. The vaccinations should be boosted, among other things with a kind of 3-G rule.
Spain: Tighter restrictions are planned again on Mallorca. In the future, beaches and parks will be closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Participants in banned parties face fines. The judiciary has yet to approve the plans.
Germany: The Robert Koch Institute reported 1183 new infections on Tuesday – that was 537 more than on Tuesday a week ago. In the flood areas, there is growing concern that the virus could spread among the aid workers and in the emergency shelters. That is why special vaccination campaigns are planned.
Europe is the first region in the world to break the 50 million corona mark. According to the Reuters news agency, there is currently one million added about every eight days.
Croatia: In Croatia, concerns about the continuation of the tourist season are growing after the entire Adriatic coast has been upgraded from green to orange on the corona map of the EU health authority ECDC. Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac sees this as a warning to adhere to the measures.
