Lockdown: Starting today no public liturgical services until January 17

Due to the new lockdown, there will be no public church services in the Catholic Church from Monday until January 17. Thus, at the beginning of the week, the pandemic-related restrictions also apply in the church area, after public services could still be celebrated on St. Stephen’s Day and Sunday. “Churches continue to be open during the day for personal prayer,” the current framework order of the Bishops’ Conference states in this regard. In addition, the celebration of services not open to the public in the smallest circle on Sundays…

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Free FFP2 masks will be sent until mid-January

The plan announced by the federal government in early December to provide the elderly population with free FFP2 masks to combat the Corona pandemic is now slowly getting underway. The first masks were sent out on Dec. 23 and delivered on Dec. 24, the health ministry said Monday. Until all those affected are supplied, however, it will take until the third week of January.It is planned to distribute ten such masks to a total of 1.7 million people over the age of 65. The masks will be sent directly to…

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Great Britain with daily peak in infections

In Great Britain, more people have been tested positive for the coronavirus in one day than at any time since the beginning of the pandemic. As of this morning, there were 41,385 confirmed cases, the government announced. Presumably the number is even higher, because in Northern Ireland no new status was reported over the holidays. In total, there have thus been more than 2.3 million positive tests in the United Kingdom so far. The UK has a population of 66.7 million. “This very high level of infection is of increasing…

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New details on Austria’s vaccination strategy announced

On Sunday, 27. December 2020 marked the start of Corona vaccinations in Austria. Three retirees (83 to 93 years old) with pre-existing conditions who volunteered made the start. The fourth and fifth to be vaccinated were the head of the Covid ward at Vienna General Hospital and the head nurse at the retirement home in Maria Enzersdorf, Lower Austria. 9,750 doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine were received by Austria at the outset. In addition to Vienna, the symbolic first vaccinations were also carried out in all other federal provinces with…

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South Africa surpasses million mark in infection cases

South Africa has become the first country on the continent to surpass one million confirmed Corona cases. Africa’s most severely affected country in terms of numbers has documented 1,004,413 cases since March amid a second wave of infection, the Department of Health announced late Sunday night. A new variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus is circulating in South Africa and is believed to be driving the new wave of infections. The pace of spread has increased as a result. Since the mutated virus was announced, many countries have therefore imposed restrictions…

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“Even vaccinated people can spread Corona”

On Sunday COVID 19 vaccinations kicked off at 9 am. The first people to receive the vaccine were three women and two men aged between 80 and 93. They had volunteered to be volunteers and received the first of two partial vaccinations. The vaccinations were administered by Univ. Prof. Dr. Ursula Wiedermann-Schmidt, chairwoman of the national vaccination committee and professor of vaccinology at the Medical University of Vienna. Even though the first people have already been vaccinated, many questions remain unanswered for some: How safe are the vaccinations? Are vaccinated…

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Further slight decrease in new infections in Austria

The Health Ministry in Austria recorded 1,408 new COVID 19 infections within 24 hours. From Saturday to Sunday, 1,429 infections were reported. Thus, the rate remained below the seven-day average of 1,863. However, this is due to the low number of registered tests due to the holidays. From Saturday to Sunday, there were only 9,909 tests nationwide; the day before, there were almost twice as many, 17,384. 14.9 percent of the 9,909 tests were positive. As a result, the seven-day incidence – number of new infections in seven days per…

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Good to know: Which public holidays will extend your vacation in 2021?

Several public holidays fall on a weekend in the coming year, but with a little planning you can still extend your vacation by a few days. How this works best, read here. Many hopes are pinned on the year 2021. Among other things, after the Corona year, many probably long for a journey without complications and restrictions. To what extent this will be possible is still written in the stars. However, it is certain that the valuable vacation days give more properly used. Several holidays fall in the upcoming year…

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Austrians’ confidence has been taken away by Corona

Austrians’ confidence has decreased in 2020. Never since the introduction of its New Year’s survey in 1972 has the Linz-based opinion research institute IMAS registered such a poor basic mood. A year with Corona has apparently meant that only one third of the population is now in a positive mood going into the new year. According to the latest study, just 22 percent thought 2020 had been a good year. The study, published on Monday, shows that three-quarters of respondents regard the year ending as “bad” (29 percent) or “not…

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