Western Europe battles Covid surge
Austria will become the first country in western Europe to reimpose a full coronavirus lockdown this autumn to tackle a new wave of infections, and will require its whole population to be vaccinated as of February, its government said on Friday.
Austria will become the first country in western Europe to reimpose a full coronavirus lockdown this autumn to tackle a new wave of infections, and will require its whole population to be vaccinated as of February, its government said on Friday.
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Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said on Friday that the lockdown will start on Monday and initially last for 10 days. Most stores will close, and cultural events will be cancelled. He initially said all students would have to go back into home schooling.
Starting on February 1, the country will also make vaccinations mandatory, public broadcaster ORF reported.
“We do not want a fifth wave,” Schallenberg said, according to ORF. “Not do we want a sixth or seventh wave.”
Austria had initially introduced a national lockdown only for the unvaccinated that started on Monday, but as virus cases continued to skyrocket the government said it had no choice but to extend it to everyone.
“This is very painful,” Schallenberg said.
Roughly two-thirds of Austria’s population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, one of the lowest rates in western Europe.
Its infections are among the highest on the continent, with a seven-day incidence of 991 per 100,000 people.
“We have not succeeded in convincing enough people to get vaccinated,” Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg told a news conference.
With cold weather setting in across Europe as winter approaches, governments have been forced to consider reimposing unpopular lockdowns. The Netherlands has reimposed a partial lockdown, with bars and restaurants closing at 8pm.
Germany may impose lockdown for vaccinated
Germany’s coronavirus situation is so grave that a lockdown, including people who have been vaccinated, cannot be ruled out, the health minister said on Friday. “We are now in a situation - even if this produces a news alert - where we can’t rule anything out,” acting health minister Jens Spahn said
Germany reported 52,970 new coronavirus cases and 201 deaths on Friday, bringing total deaths to 98,739.
Russian authorities on Friday reported a record number of deaths for the third day in a row. Russia’s state coronavirus task force reported 1,254 virus deaths, up 1,251 on Thursday and 1,247 on Wednesday.
Norwegian officials said on Friday the country is introducing stricter controls at border crossings, requiring everyone to register before entering the country, in a bid to tackle the rise in Covid cases.
Travellers from the UK who have gotten their third coronavirus vaccine dose will now be able to prove their status through the National Health Service’s Covid app. The change, effective on Friday, will allow travellers to enter countries including Israel, Croatia and Austria that have set time limits for the vaccines to be valid for travel without quarantining, the UK government said.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for people to show their vaccine status if they are travelling abroad,” health and social care secretary Sajid Javid said.
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