Due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, Austria begins to tighten its Corona measures. The curfew, currently set at 11 p.m., will be brought forward to 10 p.m. as of December 27, and restrictions will also come for events. On New Year’s Eve, the planned curfew exemption will be eliminated.
The following is an overview of the rules around Christmas and New Year’s.
Christmas and New Year’s Eve
Still upheld – until further notice – is the lockdown for the unvaccinated. The government had already announced exceptions for this group of people for the Christmas holidays and New Year’s Eve, and these remain in place. On December 24, 25 and 26, as well as at the turn of the year, i.e. on December 31, even the unvaccinated are allowed to celebrate in a small circle. Attending gatherings with a maximum of ten people is considered an exceptional reason to leave the house on these days. This does not require a valid 2-G certificate.
Closing time
What is new is that as of December 27, the curfew currently set at 11 p.m. (due to Corona) will be brought forward to 10 p.m. throughout Austria. This also applies on New Year’s Eve – and not only in the catering industry, but also in all tourist establishments and for cultural events and functions. An evasion to hotel bars or restaurants is thus excluded, and also galas or the like must end at 10 p.m. at the latest. The new Covid Crisis Coordination Committee (Gecko) also advises against New Year’s Eve celebrations as a matter of principle. If possible, people should only get together in a small circle – and with prior testing.
Events
There are tightenings at events. Meetings without assigned seats are to be possible starting from 27 December only with maximally 25 persons – inside like outside, thereby the 2-G-rule applies further. If seats are assigned, a maximum of 500 people can gather. A maximum of 1000 participants will be allowed, provided a PCR test is required in addition to the 2G rule. Up to 2000 people are allowed to attend an event if they are triple vaccinated and a PCR test is also provided.
Entry
The countries Great Britain, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands will be declared virus variant areas with effect from December 25, which means that in principle a quarantine of ten days will be mandatory. However, triple vaccinated persons with a valid PCR test are exempted from this.
- source: diepresse.at/picture: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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