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In Austria, the corona lockdown will be extended by at least another two weeks.

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz justified this on Sunday in Vienna by saying that more contagious mutations of the virus had now also arrived in Austria.

The situation has worsened again significantly.

The goal is now to reopen trade and museums under strict security precautions from February 8th.

Service companies such as hairdressers should then be allowed to work again.

However, the daily reported new infections should decrease significantly, added Kurz.

That was how long exit restrictions and distance learning schools remained in place.

However, the ski slopes and ice rinks are still open.

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Initially, easing was planned for January 25th.

However, due to the new virus mutation discovered in the UK, experts had warned against opening too early.

The infectious virus variant B.1.1.7 is already relatively widespread in Austria based on initial findings.

In the next ten weeks, the virus would demand a lot from Austrians, said Health Minister Rudolf Anschober.

"It will be the most difficult phase of the pandemic."

Seven-day incidence between 130 and 150

Almost three weeks after the start of the latest hard lockdown, the number of new infections on Sunday was 1267. The seven-day incidence - the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants - had recently leveled off between 130 and 150.

In Germany, this number was 136 on Sunday. Kurz stated as a target value that by the end of the lockdown there should only be 600 to 700 new infections per day - an incidence of around 50.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 7,000 people have died of or with Covid-19 in Austria with its almost nine million inhabitants.

Briefly, however, she was convinced that vaccinations in summer would return to normal life.

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The safety distance that people in Austria should keep has been increased from one to two meters.

In the future - as in Bavaria - FFP2 masks will have to be worn in shops and public transport.

The masks should be made available to low-income groups free of charge.

The government also appealed to companies to let employees work from home whenever possible.

However, there is no obligation to work from home - as demanded by experts.

In mid-February, it was planned to reassess the situation for restaurants, hotels and organizers, said Kurz.

An opening is possible in March at the earliest.

The announcement of the new measures came a day after a large demonstration against the corona regulations.

On Saturday, around 10,000 people protested in Vienna against plans to contain the pandemic.

Distance rules and mask requirements were largely ignored, according to the police.

A total of 23 people were arrested.

In addition, the police filed reports against more than 300 participants.