A virologist believes another lockdown in Austria is possible. Meanwhile, restaurateurs are calling for clear rules for the winter season. But will they be able to do so, and will there be a 1G rule?

Vienna – The virologist Dorothee Laer of the MedUni Innsbruck finds in conversation with the ORF clear words on Saturday evening. Action is now required if another lockdown in Austria is to be averted, says Laer. Because the number of intensive care patients is increasing rapidly.

Virologist: “The adults should get the damn vaccine!”

In the past two weeks, the number of corona patients in intensive care units in Austria has doubled, explains the virologist Dorothee von Laer at the MedUni Innsbruck in an interview with the ORF, but this development is always lagging behind the infections. “Even if you manage to flatten the curve in the next two or three weeks, it will still take at least two or three weeks until the number of Covid patients in intensive care units no longer increases as much.”

In view of the doubling of the numbers within two weeks, you could be back in the same situation in which you pulled the rip cord by the end of September. “In October we could scrape past the lockdown or slide into it,” Laer continued. Consistently implementing measures such as the 3G rule would be a step towards containing the virus better. The virologist criticizes that 3G is often not properly controlled.

The opening of schools will further fuel the situation, warns Dorothee von Laer. The concept in the schools is “excellent”. She makes it clear that the situation should not be carried out on the back of the children and demands: “The adults should damn well get vaccinated again so that a quiet school year can go on.” It must be clear to everyone who does not get vaccinated Sometime. “Before 90 percent of the population is immune, the virus will not rest!”

“Until 90 percent of the population is immune, the virus will not rest!”

Winter season in Austria: Hoteliers and restaurateurs demand clear rules – “Now we have to know what is happening”

Meanwhile, hoteliers and restaurateurs are already demanding clear rules from politicians for the winter season in Austria. “We now have to know what is happening,” said Anton Birnbaum, General Manager of the Astoria Resort in Seefeld in Tyrol ORF. Should Germany introduce a quarantine for Austria vacationers in winter, it would be an “absolute drama”, the Tyrolean continued.

The rules should now communicate clearly and not just in November, demand restaurateurs. Susanne Kraus-Winkler, chairwoman of the professional association for the hotel industry in the Chamber of Commerce (WKO), expects “fundamental statements” from politics “in the next two weeks at the latest”.

Corona in Austria: is there a 1G rule?

The previous winter season was largely omitted in Austria; in the 2019/2020 season, ski areas – such as Ischgl – closed earlier than planned. Some suspect the introduction of a 1G rule: “Sooner or later, the 1G rule will apply to traveling. I think it will come this year, ”says managing director Fritz Moser in the Austrian news. That would mean that only those who have been vaccinated can travel to winter sports resorts; Austria’s Minister of Health Wolfgang Mückenstein (Greens) considers the 1G rule to be useful for après-ski, for example.

Chancellor Kurz recently said at the ÖVP party congress that “unlocking and locking must be over”, thus rejecting further lockdowns. In the future, vaccination is the answer, no longer the lockdown, so a little further. He included a 1G rule in the conversation oe24.TV however not off. The Austrian federal government will continue the federal-state meetings in the coming week and may then present a new package of Corona measures.