Category: Feature Stories

Vienna. The Corona Commission has – as reported – set the traffic light for ten more districts to orange. Among them five in Lower Austria, but also Austria’s top ski regions in the west: With Landeck and Schwaz two more are orange in Tyrol. This means: ski areas such as Ischgl/Samnaun, Kaunertal, St. Anton am Arlberg (district of Landeck) have again been downgraded to “high risk”. Also the region Schwaz with the Zillertalarena, Gerlos, the Hintertuxer Gletscher, Mayrhofen. Even the ski area around the top World Cup and celebrity city…

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The World Health Organization (WHO) fears that the number of deaths caused by the coronavirus could continue to rise dramatically without joint international action. Two million coronavirus deaths or even more are “very likely” if the global community does not take decisive action to counteract the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, said the WHO Director for Medical Emergencies, Michael Ryan, at an online press conference today. Currently, the number of coronavirus deaths worldwide is approaching one million. “One million is a terrible number, and we need to deal with that…

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According to a report in London, people are being deliberately infected with the coronavirus for vaccine testing. Healthy adult volunteers will be exposed to coronavirus under controlled quarantine conditions in the new year after receiving a potential vaccine a few weeks earlier, the Financial Times (“FT”) writes, citing project participants. One is working with partners to speed up the development of vaccines with the help of “Human Challenge” tests, confirmed a government spokesman for the dpa in London. Ethical concerns“Human Challenge Trials” have the advantage that the effectiveness of a…

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According to new estimates, the pandemic will cost about 500 million people their jobs. This is a result of the constantly rising number of infections. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the damage is probably greater than previously assumed. Companies suffered an income loss of 3.5 trillion dollars – without government aid. This also resulted in a loss of working hours. These were reduced by 17 percent, or 500 million jobs. Second half of the year no betterInitially, hopes for a more successful second half of the year vanished…

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Parts of the Czech Republic and Austria are much more affected by the coronavirus than Bavaria. Several border regions are now officially classified as risk areas by the German government. Germany warns against travelling there. Recently, after Vienna, Vorarlberg was also put on the Red List. What does this mean for tourists, business travelers and commuters? What is the Corona situation in the Czech Republic and Austria? In Austria, Vorarlberg, which borders on Bavaria, is now considered a risk area alongside Vienna. In the Czech Republic, large parts of the…

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Terrifying results: In a study, 20 masks of commuters were examined in the laboratory. What the researchers discovered is unfortunately more than frightening. The Swiss consumer magazine “K-Tipp” had 20 masks used by commuters examined. The goal of the study was to find out how (un)hygienically used MNS masks are. Among other things, the investigation showed that numerous bacteria, moulds and even staphylococcus under were on the masks. More than one million bacteria colonies found11 of the 20 respirator masks examined in total contained more than 100,000 bacterial colonies. The…

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Since yesterday, fitness studios have been required to wear masks not only when entering and leaving the sports facility. Mouth and nose protection must also be worn in the checkroom and on the way to and from the training area. This was clarified today by the Professional Association of Leisure and Sports Companies in the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ) in response to an APA inquiry. The mask may only be taken off during direct sports practice, “when changing from one device to another we recommend wearing mouth-nose protection”, it…

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by Hector Pascua with reports from news agencies and krone.at Until the result of a coronavirus test, a so-called PCR test, is available, those affected often have to be patient. Since the laboratories are overloaded, this can currently take up to three days or even longer. In view of the forthcoming flu season, it would be important to know as soon as possible whether a person is suffering from Covid-19 or influenza. This could be remedied by new rapid antigen tests that provide results within 15 minutes.The PCR test procedures…

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by Hector Pascua, with reports from sozialministerium.at and diepresse.at Since September 21, the corona rules have been tightened again throughout Austria. Especially affected are events and festivals. After a relatively relaxed summer, it was probably only a matter of time before it became stricter again. Since Monday, 21.09., stricter corona measures are again in effect throughout Austria. Especially private gatherings and events are being restricted again. An overview of what is now allowed – and what not: Daily life, family, social affairs: It is always allowed to go out of…

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