“Please do not understand the easing as the all-clear!” Appeals Kurz

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It's an experiment: Although the number of Corona cases in Austria is still relatively high, Vienna is loosening the reins from this Monday: Shops, museums and hairdressers are opening again, as are schools.

"In the last two weeks, our number of infections has not decreased because fewer and fewer people are adhering to the regulations and are longing for more freedom again," said Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in WELT AM SONNTAG.

He added: "It makes no sense to remain in a strict lockdown while the willingness of the population to participate declines at the same time." If the numbers rise again soon, the contact restrictions will have to be increased again.

Can Austria be a role model for Germany with its strategy?

The federal government wants to discuss how to proceed on Wednesday.

However, further easing is not expected so far.

Psychologists and economic researchers are now increasingly warning of the consequences of strict lockdown measures such as those in Germany.

Epidemiologists and immunologists, such as the researchers Christian Drosten and Melanie Brinkmann, on the other hand, are strictly against relaxation.

This is also the case in Austria.

Source: WORLD infographic

However, other leading medical professionals in the Alpine republic showed understanding for the easing course of the black-green coalition in Vienna.

If you look reality in the eye, said Gerald Gartlehner, epidemiologist at Danube University Krems, you have to realize that the lockdown has not had the desired effects in the end.

It would have been to be feared, according to Gartlehner, that even more people would simply no longer have participated.

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The well-known microbiologist Michael Wagner from the University of Vienna also said that the purely epidemiological point of view is also countered by economic and psychological arguments “and other understandable arguments”.

What Wagner meant is shown by the new figures from the European statistics agency Eurostat.

The economy in Austria slumped by 7.8 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same period in the previous year - only Spain was worse in the EU.

The reason lies mainly in the decline in tourism.

Kurz's hardest decision

The number of corona cases in Austria is far from the goals set by the Kurz government.

The average number of new infections within a week is currently 105 per 100,000 inhabitants - the target was an incidence of no more than 50. According to the latest figures from the weekend, 1,333 people were infected within 24 hours - the government's goal was to reduce the value to 700 .

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For Kurz, the temporary easing course is probably the hardest decision of his term in office.

Most recently, almost pleadingly, he appealed to the population: "Please do not understand the easing as an all-clear!" The careful opening can also lead to an increase in the number of infections. "

But he also knows that a head of government has to keep an eye on the welfare of society as a whole and weigh up the risks and opportunities.

In this respect, Kurz is showing courage.

"We are taking a risk here," said Vienna's mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ).

It was a “ride on the razor blade”, emphasized Hermann Schützenhofer (ÖVP), Governor (Prime Minister) of Styria.

What exactly are the easing measures in the neighboring country now?

All shops open again - but there is an FFP2 mask requirement and there must be 20 square meters of space for each customer.

The one-person rule applies to smaller businesses.

Masseurs, hairdressers and beauticians are allowed to work again - but customers must show a negative corona test, which must not be older than 48 hours, from a test center, from a doctor or from a pharmacy.

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Anyone who has already been infected in the past six months does not need a test.

All primary school students will be taught full class again in school from Monday, while lower and upper school students will be divided into two groups.

In the lower and upper grades it is compulsory to wear a mask, the older ones are obliged to wear FFP2 masks.

In addition, “mini test streets” are set up in every school: the pupils have to test themselves once or twice a week with “quick nose bur tests” under the supervision of teachers.

“The school is a challenge,” admitted Kurz.

Museums, zoos and libraries are also reopening.

Up to four adults and six children from two households will in future be allowed to meet in private living quarters, at the same time the penalties for violating the Corona rules will be increased significantly and the entry requirements tightened.

"Hope she can control risk"

The head of the Social Democrats, Pamela Rendi-Wagner (SPÖ), sharply criticizes the course: “The relaxation beyond school is a great risk because the number of infections in Austria is still too high and the number of vaccinations is still too low “, She said WORLD.

Then there are the British and South African virus variants.

"This means that in a few weeks the number of infections can rise sharply again, so there will be exponential strong growth and a new lockdown in Austria would be necessary."

The leader of the largest opposition party said it would have been right to hold out for another two to three weeks in order to reduce infections, increase vaccination rates and provide all Austrians with "living room tests".

“The government made up of the ÖVP and the Greens took a great risk with their decision.

I hope that they can control this risk, ”said the SPÖ leader.

Most commentators in Austria welcomed the controlled opening.

The newspaper “Der Standard” from Vienna, which is generally critical of the government, wrote: “The psychological fatigue in the population is too great to maintain the strict lockdown - especially since the number of infections has stabilized.

On a slightly too high level, but far removed from the horror reports in late autumn. "

But that could change soon.

According to Oswald Wagner, Vice Rector of the Medical Faculty of the University of Vienna and member of the government's Covid-19 Expert Council, the 30 to 70 percent more contagious British virus variant B.1.1.7 now accounts for up to 40 percent of new infections in Vienna alone .

This is what makes the current opening steps so risky.

"It's all built on sand," says forecast researcher and physicist Peter Klimek.

The expert expects the British Corona mutation to prevail in February.

If this variant had a doubling time of just one week, "then within a week we would be from an incidence of 100 to 200 and so on".

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In addition, according to the Innsbruck virologist Dorothee von Laer, a "Tyrolean subtype" of the South African corona variant B.1.351 is spreading in Tyrol.

The new mutant poses three challenges for doctors: it is more contagious, less responsive to vaccinations and it can lead to reinfections.

So far 165 cases have been officially proven.

Briefly suspects what could happen in Austria.

The European vaccine procurement is only going slowly and the corona mutations spread: "I am sure that the coming months will be extremely violent," he said at the weekend.

Unteressen wants to massively tighten border controls to Germany and other neighboring countries from Monday.