The city of Vienna has stated this Thursday that it begins to prohibit the entrance to cafes, restaurants and events with more than 25 people to people who are not vaccinated against the covid, anticipating the measures that will probably be introduced soon throughout Austria before the increased infections.
Distrust and skepticism
Approximately 64% of the Austrian population is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. This figure is in line with the European Union average, but it is also one of the lowest rates in Western Europe . Many Austrians are skeptical of vaccines, a view promoted by the far-right Freedom Party, the third largest in parliament.
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The new daily infections amounted to 8,594 on Thursday, according to government data, which represents an increase of 32% compared to this Wednesday and is close to the record of more than 9,000 established last November.
“It is important to me that we make decisions before the intensive care units are at the limit of their capacity,” said the mayor of Vienna, the Social Democrat Michael Ludwig, at a press conference, in which he outlined the new measures to be taken. They will introduce at the end of next week, which also include a ban on the unvaccinated from entering hairdressers .
Low infection rate and strict restrictions
Of the nine Austrian provinces, Vienna has the lowest infection rate, partly because it has generally had the toughest restrictions , but it also has the highest rate of intensive care beds occupied by covid patients , 21 %, for reasons that are not entirely clear.
The conservative-led national government has outlined a plan according to which the unvaccinated will be locked up , with restrictions on their daily movements, once the 600 intensive care beds are occupied by covid patients.
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Under this phased plan, the unvaccinated, not including those who have recently recovered from the coronavirus, will be banned from cafes and restaurants once 500 intensive care beds are occupied by virus-infected patients. The number of those beds currently in use is 352, increasing by more than 10 a day .
Two provinces, Salzburg and Upper Austria, accounted for 45% of new cases on Thursday . Upper Austria, a stronghold of the Freedom Party, has the lowest vaccination rate in Austria. (Information from Francois Murphy, edited by William Maclean and Mark Heinrich).
