Austria to ease virus rules after vaccine mandate begins
Austrian officials plan to loosen coronavirus restrictions in February
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Austria plans to loosen coronavirus restrictions in February after the country’s national vaccine mandate, the first of its kind in Europe takes effect on Tuesday.
Starting Feb. 5, restaurants will be allowed to remain open until midnight, as opposed to 10 p.m., Chancellor Karl Nehammer said at a Saturday news conference.
In addition, rules effectively barring unvaccinated people from stores and restaurants will be phased out. Starting Feb. 12, proof of vaccination or recovery will no longer be required to enter shops. A week later, on Feb. 19, entry into restaurants will be allowed for all who can prove vaccination, recovery or a negative coronavirus test.
Nehammer also said last week that lockdown restrictions for vaccinated people, which have been in place since November, will end on Monday.
The announcement Saturday comes in spite of record-high new infection numbers in recent days, fuelled by the omicron variant. On Friday, Austria reported 34,748 new cases. As of Thursday, the Alpine nation's 7-day rate of infections stood at 2,381.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, about 10 times as high as the rate at the start of January.
Still, Nehammer said the low rate of patients now hospitalized for the virus means additional steps toward normalcy are possible. Officials in Austria expect the omicron wave to peak in the first week of February.
Austria has seen over 14,000 virus deaths in the pandemic.
___
Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.