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Universities and high school classes switched to 'distance learning', while all shops were kept open. It introduced a curfew during the night (20:00-6:00) and the closing of restaurants, leisure facilities and museums - the restrictions were similar to those in Germany. On November 1, 2020, a decree by the Ministry of Health, implementing the announced “light” version of a lockdown, was published and came into force two days later. November 2020: Lockdown and the peak of the infection event According to AGES, 791 new infections had been reported on October 1, but on October 31, 4.797 new cases of infection had been registered - more than six times as many (see Figure 1). Only 4 days later, on October 31, 2020, the federal government eventually announced a "light" lockdown because of the rising infection numbers. Sebastian Kurz emphasised - similar to earlier statements - that a lockdown would be "the last measure" and that Austria was still "far from it". On October 27 2020, despite rising infection figures, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober and Chancellor Outdoors, the minimum distance of one metre had to be respected and groups of no more than 12 people were allowed to meet. A maximum of six people were allowed to gather indoors. The Corona traffic light is regularly updated by the so-called Corona Commission, which meets weekly.ĭue to the rising infection numbers, the Ministry of Health issued a decree on Octoto tighten the restrictions, which came into force three days later. The Corona traffic light, which has been active since September, was, for the first time, switched to red (very high risk) in four districts of Austria (Wels, Hallein, Innsbruck Land, Innsbruck Stadt) on October 15. Due to the possible risk of infection in polling stations, a record rate of 43 percent (321,056 people) of the electorate voted by absentee ballot. On October 11, 2020, state elections were held in Vienna. October 2020: The second wave and the path to the second lockdownĪt the beginning of October 2020, the peak of daily confirmed new infections during the first wave in spring was exceeded and the second wave of infection began to hit Austria. This article summarizes the most important measures and events concerning the Corona crisis in Austria in the period from October 2020 to the beginning of February 2021. The measures were tightened again and have since restricted public life. In autumn 2020, a second wave of infection began to spread (see Chronology Part 3). In spring 2020, there was a first national lockdown lasting several weeks (see Chronology Part 1), before the situation increasingly normalized in summer (see Chronology Part 2). One year ago, on February 25, 2020, the first COVID-19 case was reported in Austria. Moreover, the obligation to show a negative Covid-19 test for services where the minimum distance cannot be respected was introduced for the first time in February 2021.īy Markus Pollak, Nikolaus Kowarz and Julia Partheymüller However, supply shortages delayed the campaign at the beginning of the year.
South africa first lockdown date series#
In addition to two national mass testing series with partly low participation rates and a FFP2 mask mandate, a vaccination campaign was launched in Austria in January 2021.
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In the last two weeks of November and at the beginning of December, more than half of Austria's beds in Intensive Care Units (ICU) were occupied by Covid-19 patients. The peak of confirmed daily cases of infection was reached on Novemwith 9.209 confirmed cases.On February 8, 2021, many of the measures that had been in place, such as the closure of shops and schools, were lifted. Since the beginning of November 2020, Austria has been in a lockdown, which was eased in the meantime for several weeks (December 7 - December 26). The second wave of infection hit Austria in autumn 2020 and led to renewed restrictions on public life by the federal government.Chronology of the Corona Crisis in Austria - Part 4: Lockdowns, mass testing and the launch of the vaccination campaign
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