New mask and quarantine rules to be implemented on Thursday

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The new regulation should have already come into force Tuesday at midnight. However, there were probably still some details to be worked out. A draft traded during the day provided a relativization of the comeback of the mask in indoor areas announced by Health Minister Johannes Rauch. Accordingly, retailers, event organizers, and nightclubs could impose 3G (vaccinated, recovered, or tested) instead of the mask requirement. According to APA information, this plan is likely to be implemented roughly in this way – but the details had not yet been finalized on Tuesday night.

Whether this measure will have much effect is probably not undisputed. Because nearly all experts had omitted the mask for the substantial rise of the infection numbers in the past weeks‘ main responsible, now at events or on the dance floor, people could continue to crowd if they are tested, vaccinated, or recovered.

The well-known virologist Dorothee von Laer had strongly doubted corresponding plans in the “Kronen Zeitung.“ For her, rules such as 3G currently “make no sense.“ Because vaccinated would infect themselves at present with Omicron just as often as unvaccinated. From their point of view, a compulsory test would make sense in addition to the mask obligation.

The mask will remain where it was already mandatory, for example, in grocery stores, banks, pharmacies, and public transport. For instance, if the plans are confirmed, 3G will be possible in gondolas and coaches. The same applies, for example, to the textile trade or in theaters and sports halls.

Changes to the quarantine rules were also planned for the middle of the week, but no concrete implementation plans have leaked out at present. The original idea was that if a person is symptom-free for two days, they should be able to return to work five days after testing positive. This was planned, at least for healthcare and nursing facilities. However, this was met with resistance from the staff representatives and the Vienna municipality.