Austria is facing a fifth lockdown
Austria is already discussing the fifth lockdown because of the Omikron variant of the corona virus. Experts fear enormous damage to the economy.
the essentials in brief
- Because of Omikron there is fear of a massive loss of workforce in Austria.
- So that this can be cushioned, a relaxation of the quarantine is now being discussed.
Concern for the Austrian economy: Due to the rapid spread of the Omikron variant, another lockdown is under discussion. This would then be the fifth.
Meanwhile, experts fear massive damage to the economy, as reported by “OE24”. According to calculations, if the economy were to be shut down again, the costs would amount to 730 million euros per week. For comparison: the first lockdown cost 1.8 billion euros per week.
Overall, the losses for the Austrian economy with each lockdown became smaller and smaller. The second lockdown already cost € 860 million, well below a billion. The third lockdown cost even less with € 840 million and the fourth with € 750 million; these are the numbers from Agenda Austria.
Coronavirus: Omicron is prevalent
In Austria – as in most other European countries – Omikron now dominates. In the last calendar week of 2021, 4712 Omikron cases and 2965 Delta cases were detected.
The Omikron numbers are skyrocketing: on Tuesday, more than 5000 new infections were registered within 24 hours. However, the situation in the clinics is still relatively relaxed. In order to ensure a breakdown of the infrastructure, employees of the energy supplier were isolated from Vienna. The federal and state governments want to discuss new quarantine rules on Thursday.
More on the subject: