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Covid: Austrians heading towards lockdown for unvaccinated

Austrians are days away from a first lockdown for anyone not fully vaccinated, after record infections were reported across the country.

Upper Austria province will impose restrictions from Monday if it gets the go-ahead from the federal government. Salzburg also plans new measures.

Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said a national lockdown for the unvaccinated was "probably inevitable".

Two-thirds of people should not suffer because others were hesitant, he said.

Upper Austria, which borders Germany and the Czech Republic and has a population of 1.5 million, has the country's highest level of infection and the lowest vaccination rate.

Nationally, a record 11,975 Covid-19 infections were recorded in the past 24 hours and Austria's coronavirus commission has warned of a threat that "must be taken seriously".

What lockdown for unvaccinated will mean

Analysis box by Bethany Bell, Vienna correspondent

Austria is currently seeing the highest daily infections since the pandemic began, and it is keen to avoid a lockdown for the vaccinated.

It has already banned the unvaccinated from going to restaurants, cinemas, ski lifts and hairdressers, but things are about to get even tougher in Upper Austria.

The province is introducing a lockdown for the unvaccinated.

 The chancellor says this means that people who have not been vaccinated won't be able to leave home, unless it is for essential reasons like going to work, buying food or exercise.

Critics say the lockdown will be very hard to enforce.

If infections continue to rise, the authorities say lockdowns for the unvaccinated could be introduced in other areas.

 

The far-right opposition Freedom Party has been campaigning on a platform of vaccine scepticism, a message that has found favour with many Austrians. It says the move will create a group of second-class citizens.

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Austria's seven-day incidence rate is far higher than in neighbouring Germany, where Health Minister Jens Spahn recently warned of a pandemic of the unvaccinated.

On Thursday, Germany recorded more than 50,000 daily infections for the first time. Germany's 67.3% vaccination rate is higher than in Austria, but not by much.

Unvaccinated people will in effect be barred from restaurants, hotels, cinemas and theatres in the state of Brandenburg from Monday, by a "2G" rule limiting access to people who have been vaccinated or have recovered from Covid.

The Netherlands is also facing a surge in cases and hospital admissions, with a record 16,364 daily infections announced on Thursday.

The caretaker Dutch government is expected to announce Western Europe's first partial lockdown of the winter later on Friday.

 

Reports suggest a three-week tightening of restrictions is planned, with non-essential shops along with cafes, restaurants and hotels required to shut at 19:00. Public sports events including professional football would go ahead behind closed doors, sources say.

Coronavirusdata in detail

 
Scroll table to see more data

*Deaths per 100,000 people

Filter:                   The world                   Africa                   North America                   Latin America & Caribbean                   Asia                   Europe                   Middle East                   Oceania              
Country Deaths Death rate* Total Cases
New Cases
 
0
 
 
 
 
 
10
100
1k
10k
 
**
Russia 242,241 167.8 8,651,561
JAN 2020
NOV 2021
UK 141,805 212.2 9,301,909  
Italy 132,391 219.6 4,808,047  
France 117,893 175.8 7,217,484  
Germany 96,563 116.2 4,792,465  
Spain 87,504 185.9 5,025,639  
Poland 77,757 204.8 3,104,220  
Ukraine 77,130 173.8 3,232,035  
Turkey 72,127 86.5 8,233,649  
Romania 50,755 262.2 1,706,882  
Hungary 31,184 319.2 892,164  
Czech Republic 31,053 291.0 1,819,158  
Belgium 26,131 227.5 1,414,463  
Bulgaria 25,074 359.4 632,762  
Netherlands 18,561 107.1 2,201,010  
Portugal 18,203 177.3 1,097,557  
Greece 16,295 152.1 784,904  
Sweden 15,057 146.4 1,177,094  
Slovakia 13,229 242.6 518,635  
Bosnia and Herzegovina 11,717 355.0 257,401  
Austria 11,502 129.6 883,887  
Switzerland 11,274 131.5 887,446  
Georgia 10,509 282.5 755,046  
Serbia 10,405 149.8 1,183,025  
Croatia 9,500 233.6 501,327  
Moldova 8,099 304.7 345,964  
Azerbaijan 7,269 72.5 547,281  
North Macedonia 7,232 347.1 206,077  
Armenia 6,700 226.5 321,243  
Lithuania 6,135 220.1 428,541  
Ireland 5,492 111.1 469,386  
Slovenia 4,830 231.3 355,979  
Belarus 4,745 50.1 613,927  
Latvia 3,499 182.9 231,824  
Kosovo 2,978 166.0 160,872  
Albania 2,955 103.5 189,125  
Denmark 2,738 47.1 402,561  
Montenegro 2,148 345.3 148,579  
Estonia 1,610 121.4 205,096  
Finland 1,188 21.5 162,476  
Norway 922 17.2 216,855  
Luxembourg 849 137.0 82,842  
Cyprus 577 48.1 125,413  
Malta 462 91.9 37,904  
Andorra 130 168.5 15,618  
Channel Islands 103 59.8 13,684  
Gibraltar 98 290.8 6,153  
San Marino 92 271.7 5,588  
Liechtenstein 61 160.4 3,728  
Isle of Man 60 70.9 9,970  
Monaco 36 92.4 3,436  
Iceland 34 9.4 14,255  
Faroe Islands 5 10.3 2,615  
Vatican 0 0.0 27  

This information is regularly updated but may not reflect the latest totals for each country.

** The past data for new cases is a three day rolling average. Due to revisions in the number of cases, an average cannot be calculated for this date.

Source: Johns Hopkins University and national public health agencies

Figures last updated: 8 November 2021, 09:22 GMT

Source: bbc.com

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