The federal government and the all-government covid crisis coordination Gecko announced gradual easing on Saturday morning. It is seen that Omicron behaves differently than previous variants, the government’s top management announced at a press conference scheduled at short notice on Saturday morning. Case numbers are currently very high, they said, but infection incidence has decoupled somewhat from hospitalization numbers. The utilization of the intensive care beds allows to show perspectives. The decision had therefore been made to “scale back measures in a structured way.”
What opening steps were announced?
Before the start of the semester break, i.e. on February 5, the closing time, which is currently set at 10 p.m., will be moved to midnight. A week later, on Feb. 12, the 2-G restrictions on retail will be suspended. Again a week after that, on February 19, the same move will follow in the restaurant industry.
Specifically, only an FFP2 mask requirement will apply in retail with the relaxation. Also tests are not necessary to go shopping. In gastronomy and tourism, in turn, 2-G will be replaced by 3-G as of February 19. That means one will need a PCR test no more than 48 hours old to visit a restaurant or hotel. If no PCR test is available, an antigen test valid for a maximum of 24 hours can be presented.
There is also a relaxation in the event area. Instead of 25 people, 50 can now gather again, effective Feb. 5. There will also be new rules in the school area, but they will not be announced until next week. The reason given for the relaxations was that despite the high number of cases due to Omicron, the situation at the hospitals was stable.
- hp/source: diepresse.at/picture: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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