The Austrian government will impose a 10-day shutdown starting Monday to slow the spread of Coronavirus while informing all citizens that vaccines will be compulsory starting Feb. 1.
“Most stores will close, and cultural events will be canceled next week. People will be able to leave their homes only for certain specific reasons, including buying groceries, going to the doctor or exercising,” reports the Associated Press.
“Wolfgang Mueckstein, the country’s health minister, said that kindergartens and schools would remain open for those who needed to go there but all parents were asked to keep their children at home if possible,” adds the AP.
Austria brings in full national lockdown and makes vaccines compulsory after new wave of Covid infections https://t.co/Khgn04sI8K
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) November 19, 2021
Breaking News: Austria will go into a nationwide lockdown on Monday. It also plans to impose a national Covid vaccine mandate, Europe’s first.https://t.co/jAhNYMOpf9
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 19, 2021
“Unfortunately, even we as the federal government have fallen short of our standards in some areas,” explained the Health Minister. “I want to apologize for that.”
“We do not want a fifth wave,” said Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg. “Nor do we want a sixth or seventh wave.”
“This is very painful,” Schallenberg added.
“The record infection figures that we have now experienced day after day will only be reflected in normal and intensive care units with a time lag. It really is high time for a full stop,” Walter Hasibeder, the president of the Society for Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Intensive Care Medicine, told Austrian news outlet APA.
Read the full report at the Associated Press.
