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Is there a second lockdown? Chancellor Sebastian Kurz video address to the nation.
On Facebook, Sebastian Kurz answers five of the most frequently asked questions about the Corona crisis – including how things stand with a second lockdown.
When is the crisis over? Will there be a second lockdown? Are the measures not exaggerated? These are all questions that are currently occupying our country. In this video you will find the answers.
But one thing is clear: The situation in Austria is serious! Right now we have to be especially careful and reduce social contacts – even if it is difficult for us. This is the only way we can do it,
that we protect our health, but also our economy and our jobs!
In view of new Corona record numbers every day, Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) Sonntag has made an urgent appeal to the Austrians to “stick together to keep the infection rates low”. It is “up to all of us” to prevent the second lockdown – by reducing social contacts, by refraining from celebrations, large private gatherings and parties, he said in a long video distributed via Facebook entitled “The situation in Austria is serious”. The video also briefly addressed the noticeable “corona fatigue” that is leading to more and more conspiracy theories, including open calls for not taking action.
Chancellor Kurz said: “We currently have no problem with our intensive care capacities. Of the 2,500 intensive care beds we have in Austria, just under 1,000 are reserved for corona patients. And just under 120 of these are currently occupied. The problem, the big challenge with this virus, however, is its exponential growth. We currently have about 1,000 to 1,500 new infections per day in Austria. This number doubles within three weeks. If we do not succeed in slowing down the growth, then we will have daily new infections of around 6,000 in December. This is anything but unrealistic. With the beginning of the flu epidemic, we will gradually come up against our intensive care capacities. Our major goal must be to prevent this from happening. All those who say that we currently have no problem in intensive care medicine are absolutely right. But for this to remain the case, we must work together to flatten and slow down the exponential growth. Exponential growth does not stop on its own.”
On the implementation of the second lockdown
Chancellor Kurz: “It is probably the question that currently occupies Austrians the most “and which I too am currently being asked the most,” said Kurz. For weeks there has been speculation about a second lockdown – fuelled last Saturday by a ZiB report with a concrete timetable. Sebastian Kurz answers the question with an emotional appeal: “It’s up to all of us. In some European countries the status quo is already that there are lockdown like conditions. Sealed-off cities, closed schools and restaurants – and in some parts even curfews are in place. The good news is that if we all make a contribution and reduce social contacts, we can prevent a second lockdown in Austria. We know that the bulk of the virus infection is in the private sphere. And that means that if we all avoid celebrations, private gatherings in large groups, parties, we can slow down growth and thus keep schools, the economy and also parts of social and community life open.
— Hector Pascua, Source: Facebook. Picture: welt.de
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