World & Nation GOP embraces disputed argument for natural immunity as substitute for vaccines Kurz was forced out in a corruption scandal last month, replaced by his foreign minister, Alexander Schallenberg, who inside of a week expanded the controversial lockdown on unvaccinated people to a lockdown for everyone. Political analysts say the government did not effectively communicate the necessity of the vaccinations early enough, and that many Austrians did not take the campaign seriously enough after former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz declared the pandemic “over” last summer. The only way is with a lockdown, a relatively hard method, to lower the numbers with a wooden hammer,” Mueckstein told national broadcaster ORF on Sunday night. “It is a situation where we have to react now. But most of all, he said, it was needed to bring relief “to the people who work in this sector, the nurses and doctors who cannot take it anymore.” Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein said the lockdown was necessary to bring down the number of new daily infections, which have spiked to as many as 15,000 a day, and to reduce the number of virus patients in intensive care, currently at 531. Kindergartens and schools will remain open for those who need them, but all parents were asked to keep their children at home if possible. Restrictions, however, will remain for unvaccinated people.Īs of Monday, people can leave their homes only for specific reasons, including buying groceries, going to the doctor or exercising.
The renewed restrictions will be in place for at least 10 days, but are likely to be extended for another 10 days, after which the government has indicated plans to open up so Austrians can celebrate Christmas normally. “One should have done more research in, I don’t know, summer? One should have implemented a mandatory vaccination in the summer, when it turned out it would not be enough to hope that people get there without any coercion. “I am particularly annoyed by the lockdown,” said Georg Huber, a lawyer on his way to the office. Police cars circulated, in keeping with government promises to step up controls, but no spot checks were being made.
This was not the draconian lockdown of the pandemic’s dawn in 2020, when movements were strictly monitored and discouraged. The capital, Vienna, awoke groggily to the new restrictions, with people heading to work, to bring children to school or to exercise outdoors, more or less as usual. Austrians savored one last mulled wine in packed Christmas markets before the curtain came down on the holiday season that was just getting underway, plunging the country that gave the world “Silent Night” into its fourth lockdown of the pandemic Monday.
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