Mandatory wearing of masks indoors to be reintroduced

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After a GECKO meeting on Friday, Health Minister Johannes Rauch commented on the new measures.

Mandatory wearing of masks indoors to be reintroduced

At the moment, masks are only compulsory in vital areas throughout Austria. That means in supermarkets, public transport”, pharmacies, and banks. Vienna is taking”a stricter approach, making masks mandatory in all indoor areas, i.e., in shops “or concerts. The federal government is also tightening the r”ins again.

At 6 p.m., Health Minister Johannes Rauch announced at a press conference that, among other things, mandatory masks would be reintroduced nationwide.

Numbers too high

There would be “two more weeks of persistently high numbers in new infections,“ Rauch said. Rauch said that the Covid forecasting consortium expects at least 50,000 new conditions per day in the next two weeks.

Regarding the situation in hospitals, the minister said: “We have an agitated situation with staff.” The hospitals and nursing homes are “at the limit of their capacity and above, with a lack of staff, and operations can only be maintained “with great difficulty.“

What is now being done about it: “We will reintroduce the obligation to wear masks indoors,” said Rauch. By possibly next Wednesday, but at least from next week, the necessary ordinance should be ready.

In addition, there will be a relaxation of the quarantine rules for sick people, at least in hospitals and nursing homes. This was argued by the head of the department essentially with the overload of the staff given the high number of patients in the health facilities. What exactly should the rules look like then? Rauch asked for patience, saying that medical and epidemiological consultations were still needed. He wants to follow international examples, such as in the USA. But under certain conditions, people who are still ill should be able to return to work.