Exit from Tyrol is now only allowed with negative Corona test

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Tyrol will be sealed off – for at least ten days. After several days of negotiating what countermeasures would make sense, the federal government announced new tightening measures for Tyrol on Tuesday.

“The British and the South African mutation unfortunately prevail in Europe,” said Chancellor Sebastian Kurz at a press conference called at short notice. Both variants are more contagious, he said. Above all, however, the South African variant is a challenge in that Astra Zeneca’s vaccine may be less effective against it. As a reminder, Astra Zeneca is the company for which Austria ordered the largest quantities up to the summer.

In view of the fact that around 400 cases of the new virus mutation have occurred in Tyrol, the federal government has decided to impose traffic restrictions on Tyrol from Friday: Anyone who wants to leave the state must show a negative Corona test no more than 48 hours old.

East Tyrol is exempted
The legal basis for the restriction is the Epidemic Act. According to Health Minister Rudolf Anschober, the testing obligation does not apply to East Tyrol – where infection figures are significantly worse, but the variant is unlikely to be as widespread yet.

It is also important to note that children are also exempt from compulsory testing.

According to Interior Minister Karl Nehammer, starting Friday, police will check at state borders and on state roads to see if people leaving the country can show a negative Corona test.

The way Tyrol and its elected representatives have acted so far in the discussion about tougher measures has been conspicuously dismissive to aggressive. This also led Anschober to recall in a ZIB2 interview on Monday that Governor Günther Platter himself also had a “responsibility to protect the Tyrolean population.”

“The federal government has presented today the testing obligation at the borders, because there is concern that the South African virus mutation is spreading. Our main focus as the Tyrolean government is to effectively combat this pandemic and its mutation variants,” Platter reported in a statement after the press conference.

He added that the Ministry of Health had already been informed that implementation would take place in close cooperation with the federal government.

Platter pleads for regular testing
“We are currently among the federal states with the lowest number of new infections. Nevertheless, the South African virus mutation is to be taken absolutely seriously. For this reason, we are implementing a 9-point program in Tyrol to ensure that the South African mutation does not spread further and that we can protect Tyroleans,” said Platter.

The provincial governor advocates that as many citizens as possible get tested regularly. This is particularly important in the district of Schwaz, where the South African virus mutation is most widespread.

An extended range of PCR tests will be available in the district of Schwaz as early as Wednesday.