After the latest planned amendment to the Epidemic and COVID-19 Measures Act passed the National Council’s Health Committee on Thursday with the votes of the ÖVP and the Greens, the corresponding ordinance was also published on Friday, and it will apply from April 11.
The nightly exit restriction is still in place. That means: The private living area may be left between 20.00 o’clock and 06.00 o’clock of the following day only for the well-known exceptional reasons. As a result, retailers must also still close at 19.00 at the latest.
Private meetings outside this time are allowed only if they bring together persons from one household with a maximum of one person from a second household. Meetings of four or more people are not considered to be an event after all, contrary to what was briefly envisaged. The amendment explicitly states that gatherings of fewer than five people from fewer than three households are not regulated. This also applies if up to six under-18s, supervised by adults, are present.
Restaurants will remain closed until further notice, but will be allowed to offer takeaways between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. as before. The only exception is in Vorarlberg. There, all types of establishments in the hospitality industry are allowed to be entered. However, a maximum of four people from a maximum of two different households may be admitted as a group, plus their underage children (under 18). Customers must wear a mask away from their seat and must present a negative test result no older than 48 (antigen test) or 72 hours (PCR test).
In Vorarlberg, sports facilities are also allowed to open, but they too may only be entered if the test result is negative.
But what counts as a negative test result? Does the so-called living room test also count here?
A so-called test for self-acceptance is only valid if it is recorded in an official data processing system and the acceptance was not more than 24 hours ago. Vorarlberg has developed an online platform for this purpose, on which the test must be identified by means of a QR code and photos of the result uploaded. As an entry test for restaurants or for body-related services, the self-test is not valid.
A negative test result is also needed by those who want to visit someone in the hospital. Again, the result of the self-test does not count. Only one visitor per patient is allowed per day, except in special circumstances. Employees must be tested at least every seven days.
As far as entry into Austria is concerned, minor innovations have recently come into force, which are explained in another regulation. Travelers to Austria must register and show a negative test result. How old this may be, is differentiated depending on the type of test. At the time of entry, the sample may not have been taken more than 72 hours ago in the case of a PCR test, and no more than 48 hours ago in the case of an antigen test. Children up to their tenth birthday do not need a test. Furthermore, with a few exceptions, entrants must be in quarantine for ten days, but can “free-ride” from the fifth day onwards – commuters are exempt from this.
— source: kurier.at/picture: pixabay.com
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