The rules for the winter season are becoming stricter.
(Photo: Getty Images; Per-Anders Pettersson)
Vienna Crowds of tourists and locals are enjoying the Viennese autumn weather in parks, coffee houses and excursion restaurants these days. If it weren’t for the checks on the certificates and one or the other worrying news item, it would be easy to forget that the pandemic is continuing: On Thursday, the Austrian Ministry of Health reported the highest value since December 1, 2020 with 3727 new infections, with Austria today significantly more tests.
On the same day, politicians laid down the rules for the winter months. The most important innovation is that from November onwards, not only in restaurants, hotels, cultural establishments and universities, but also in the workplace 3G: Employees who have contact with customers or colleagues must be vaccinated, tested or recovered.
While the mask requirement is no longer required in many places, FFP2 masks remain mandatory in hospitals and old people’s homes. Adherence is controlled by means of spot checks.
In contrast to Switzerland, a certificate is also required for winter tourism, which is of great economic importance for Austria. In order to avoid sources of infection and the restrictions that almost led to a total failure last season, only those who can provide 3G proof can buy a ticket.
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In closed lanes, guests must also wear an FFP2 mask. In the après-ski area, apart from vaccinated and convalescent people, only people with a negative PCR test are admitted. Should the infection situation worsen, 2G would even apply.
The government in Vienna has set new rules in the wake of the corona pandemic.
(Photo: imago images / photosteinmaurer.com)
The strict rules in the tourism sector were issued against the background of the loss of confidence in the wake of the Ischgl disaster. Criticism of the measures is comparatively low in the industry. The certificate requirement in the workplace triggers broader controversy.
FPÖ sees stretched compulsory vaccination
The sharpest criticism comes from the Freedom Party (FPÖ), which has long seen a hidden vaccination obligation in the government’s measures to combat the pandemic: “This madness is supposed to drive our population into despair,” she commented on the new certificate requirement .
Politically, however, the Corona skeptics, whose most radical representatives recently made the leap into the regional parliament in Upper Austria, are powerless: Because the tests in Austria remain free for the time being, the government has also brought on board the Social Democrats, who are skeptical of the certificate requirement. The adoption of the new legal basis is therefore certain in both chambers of parliament.
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