Corona lockdown for unvaccinated extended until Jan. 10

The lockdown for people without valid proof of Corona vaccination or recovery will be extended in Austria until January 10, 2022, for the time being. The main committee on Thursday reached agreement with Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein on the fourth amendment to the sixth COVID-19 protective measures ordinance with the votes of the ÖVP, SPÖ and Greens, giving the green light to update the ordinance, parliamentary correspondence reported. Exemptions for December 31 and January 1, 2022.With the amendment, the slight relaxations approved for New Year’s Eve celebrations on Dec. 31…

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Mildest weather since 1941: Temperatures will reach up to 17 degrees on New Year’s Eve

The weather presents itself on the last day of the year from its mild side. According to the experts of the Austrian Severe Weather Center, Vienna will even experience the mildest turn of the year since 1941. The slide into the new year 2022 will be a much too mild one. And the first days of the coming year will remain so, according to the forecast of the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG). Temperatures will reach up to 17 degrees on New Year’s Eve and remain in the…

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3,225 new corona infections in Austria

After three days with strongly increasing numbers, there was even a minimal decrease on Thursday with 3,225 new Corona infections in Austria after 3,251 registered new infections on the previous day. The number of hospital treatments also continued to decline, with 1,121 people there, 26 fewer than on Wednesday. 345 people needed treatment in intensive care, a decrease of eight. With Thursday, there are 29,068 active cases in Austria, 434 more than the day before. The positive rate of the 348,734 PCR tests was 0.9 percent Thursday, above the weekly…

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125th Anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal: Filipino hero

Dr. Jose Rizal is widely celebrated as a martyr in the Philippines. He was executed by the Spanish Army on Dec. 30, 1896 after being allegedly  to a national secret society. Although Rizal never had connections with secret society, he had published books educating the general public of the Spanish colonial authorities in power at the time. Two books in particular angered the Spanish elite, “Noli me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo.” The Filipino Community in Austria brought a great sense of remembrance  on December 29, 2021 at the Philippine Embassy…

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Fireworks in Vienna: what is allowed, what is prohibited

In view of New Year’s Eve, the Vienna police expressly warns against the use and unauthorized possession of firecrackers and improper use of rockets and other fireworks. Juicy penalties may be imposed. New Year’s Eve fireworks: What is the situation in Austria?Most accidents with pyrotechnics are due to carelessness, and improper use. Especially the careless handling of pyrotechnics obtained illegally from abroad, harbors great potential danger. In the event of violations of the provisions of the Pyrotechnics Act, the user faces, in addition to possible criminal consequences, administrative fines of…

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Larger New Year’s Eve parties only permitted until 10 p.m.

New Year’s Eve parties around the clock are only permitted on a small scale this year – up to ten people. This is because the 10 p.m. curfew also applies to private gatherings – including those that are vaccinated. As already announced, several unvaccinated people are exceptionally allowed to get together at the turn of the year: This New Year’s Eve exception was passed with the current amendment to the Covid 19 Protective Measures Ordinance today in the main committee. The exception for the unvaccinated (who are still in lockdown)…

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Exploding case numbers across Europe: almost 100,000 infections in Italy

Nearly 100,000 coronavirus infections have been recorded in Italy in the past 24 hours on Wednesday. This is a record since the outbreak of the pandemic, Italian health authorities reported. The previous day, there were 78,313. 136 deaths attributed to the coronavirus were also reported. The previous day, there were 202. More than one million coronavirus tests were counted in the past 24 hours, which is also a record. 9.5 percent of those tested were positive. According to Health Secretary Pierpaolo Sileri, more than 60 percent of cases are due…

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WHO warns of collapse of healthcare systems

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a collapse in health systems because of the Omicron and Delta variants of the coronavirus. “I am deeply concerned that the more contagious Omicron, circulating simultaneously with Delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Wednesday. “This is putting, and will continue to put, immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems that are on the verge of collapse,” Tedros added. New infections: Highest weekly total since pandemic beganThe…

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Prognostic consortium: Omicron is increasingly hitting home

Omicron will have an increasingly strong impact on coronavirus infection incidence in Austria in the coming days. This is the assumption of the Covid Prognosis Consortium in its preview published on Wedensday. As in the previous week, the panel again points to the significantly higher rate of spread of the omicron variant. A significant increase in the number of cases continues to be forecast, with Vienna initially being particularly affected. According to the consortium, an increase in the 7-day incidence is to be expected. According to the forecast, the current…

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