For the Minister of Health, “No more fun”, it is said from his environment. In order to prevent the catastrophe in Upper Austria and Salzburg, he asked both countries to attend an emergency meeting in the afternoon. The last ace up your sleeve: regional lockdowns.

“This is not a duck, but an entire duck farm,” commented Rudolf Anschober exactly one year ago on the rumors of a possible lockdown. A few days later, the lockdown light came first, followed by the “hard” light from November 17th. Something similar could and should now also be imminent, at least at the regional level.

Because in view of the full intensive care units and daily records of new infections, the situation in Salzburg and Upper Austria must currently be described as dramatic. In fact, triage is already being carried out in some hospitals, including a weighing up of which patients are still being treated at all. Operations that are not essential to life will be postponed. On Tuesday, the lockdown rumors were denied by the Federal Chancellery. In the background, however, this is now seen as the only way out by the Ministry of Health. Numerous experts have been calling for massive contact restrictions for days in order to prevent the medical catastrophe.

Mückstein becomes regional lockdowns

Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) should now be determined to take action. A crisis meeting with the two governors Wilfried Haslauer and Thomas Stelzer (both ÖVP) is planned for Wednesday afternoon (4:30 p.m.). At the Council of Ministers at noon he announced an emergency meeting. “There are two federal states that are developing particularly worrying. We have to act quickly and comprehensively there. “

it becomes even clearer in the background. “It’s no longer funny,” says a confidante of the minister, describing the situation. “It is the last chance for Upper Austria and Salzburg to get it done. If they don’t take regional measures themselves, the federal government will do it. ”The step-by-step plan provides for a lockdown for unvaccinated people. “The levels cannot be skipped,” it says. For the time being, it should not apply to vaccinated people. However: “If you break your foot and do not receive any treatment for it, it BECOMES dangerous for people who have been vaccinated.” In Upper Austria and Salzburg this will soon be the case.

The system is already weakening itself. Overworked nursing staff go on sick leave because they can no longer. The Ministry of Health clearly sees the guilt in the “mismanagement” of the two ÖVP state governments. The fact that the vaccination routes were closed last weekend in Salzburg and Upper Austria of all places is called a “disaster” in the Mückstein area. The next free dates on the website are shown in Upper Austria for December. The vaccination routes are now being pulled up again. But that is too little and too late for the federal government.

Haberländer is said to have asked Mückstein for help

The ÖVP is responsible for the misery. “You can read it from the comments,” it says from a green government office. This means the numerous statements, for example by former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, that the pandemic is de facto over. Stelzer led an election campaign in the summer in which Corona was completely abolished. In the meantime, little happened in the PCR tests and the vaccination campaign.

Governor Stelzer is still likely to resist recognizing the seriousness of the situation. “First you watch the whole summer and then you form a coalition again with the party that torpedoes everything and speaks badly,” criticized the senior Green. Mückstein is said to have even been asked for help from Upper Austria. They say you can’t get through to Stelzer. In the Ö1 “Morgenjournal” on Wednesday, Haberlander expressed himself rightly and cautiously: A lockdown was “not within reach”, although she had learned that nothing can be ruled out in this pandemic. “Medical measures are to be taken when they are necessary”. The Salzburg Provincial Councilor Christian Stöckl (ÖVP) also made angular statements in the past. He wanted to tackle Mückstein, he said in the summer. Now it should be the other way around.

Corona cluster in the Steyr cancer ward

In Salzburg there are currently no more capacities available in the intensive care units. In Upper Austria the hospital beds have been increased, but relief is not in sight there either. Upper Austria is again the federal state with the highest number of new infections on Wednesday (there were 3424 cases from Tuesday).

That is more new cases than the entire Iberian Peninsula is currently recording. In addition to the already quite dramatic prospects, the alarming news came on Wednesday that a corona cluster had emerged on the oncology ward of the Steyr clinic, as the “Kronen Zeitung” reports. This was triggered by several non-vaccinated nurses. When asked whether there should be compulsory PCR testing for care, Mückstein said: “