Starting Monday, unvaccinated people in the regions of Upper
Austria and Salzburg will only be allowed to leave home for specific necessary
reasons, such as buying groceries or going to the doctor.
Schallenberg said he and regional leaders will meet again on
Sunday and plan to give approval for implementing those measures across the
country.
At a separate press conference Friday, Health Minister
Wolfgang Mueckstein said the government will introduce a vaccine requirement
for people working in the healthcare industry. He did not specify when the new
requirements will take effect.
Austria has faced a worrying trend in infections in recent
weeks. The country reported 11,798 new cases on Friday, up from 9,388 a week
ago. The 7-day infection rate stands at 760.6 new cases per 100,000
inhabitants, up from 528.8 a week ago and 316.4 two weeks ago.
Schallenberg and Mueckstein said stricter measures are
necessary to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. Currently, 437 people
are being treated for the coronavirus in intensive care units.
Previously, the government had planned to implement lockdown
measures for unvaccinated people when the number of people in ICU beds reached
600. However, Schallenberg said Friday that the numbers are rising faster than
expected and it is “not sensible to wait” until the country officially crosses
that threshold.
Last Friday, Schallenberg announced that unvaccinated people
would be barred from large parts of public life, including restaurants, hotels,
and events of more than 25 people. Those rules went into effect on Monday.
Austria has one of the lowest vaccination rates in western
Europe: 65% of the total population is fully vaccinated, and 67.8% have
received at least one dose of vaccine. -AP
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