Category: General Interest

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health presented the regulation that moves the closing time back. This means that as of today pubs may stay open until midnight. Furthermore, the number of participants for meetings will be increased. More participants are also possible in youth work and vacation camps. For larger events, testing is no longer mandatory. Specifically, the amendment to the Covid 19 Measures Ordinance stipulates that 50 instead of 25 young people can now come together again in extracurricular youth work or go on a trip to shared vacation accommodation.…

Read More

The shortening of the generation time, as well as the incubation time, is likely to play a weighty role in the rapid spread of omicron. Generation time is the period of time during which a person becomes infected, the virus spreads in the body, and subsequently, other people can be infected. In the case of the delta variant of the coronavirus, this period was around five days; in the case of Omicron, it is around 2.5 days. This would therefore mean that if you are infected with Omicron, you become…

Read More

The EU Commission is extending the Green Passport by one year until June 30, 2023. The pandemic is far from over: the use of the digital EU Covid certificates, also known as “green passports,” is to be extended by one year, according to the EU Commission. As the Brussels-based authority proposed on Thursday, the legal basis for the proof of fresh Corona tests, vaccinations or recoveries should be valid until June 30, 2023. EU countries would still have to agree to the proposal. EU Commission extends green passport until mid-2023The…

Read More

Austria has ordered a total of 57 million doses of coronavirus vaccine since the start of the pandemic through early December 2021. During this period, 23.9 million doses were delivered by Pfizer/Biontech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson, and the four companies invoiced the Republic for 246 million euros by the end of October last year, according to an answer to a question by Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens). “As of 05.01.2022, a total of 283,140 doses (vector vaccines), which were in the power of disposal of the federal government,…

Read More

Today, February 4, 2022, the semester vacations will start in Vienna, Lower Austria, and parts of the Czech Republic. ÖAMTC experts predict that there will be no major traffic jams this year. On the major freeways and expressways (A1, A2, A10, S16), the convoys will be rolling. However, an accident or a defective vehicle can quickly lead to delays. On the main connections in Tyrol, for example on the Inntal Autobahn (A12) between Kirchbichl and Kufstein or on the Fernpass route (Nassereith-Füssen, B179), there will be occasional delays due to…

Read More

Despite persistently high infection figures, measures will be relaxed in the school sector starting next week. ÖVP Education Minister Martin Polaschek announced on Wednesday after the Council of Ministers that as of February 14, the mask requirement at the seat in elementary schools will be dropped. Already from Monday, February 7, there will no longer be a mask requirement in classes for all age groups. Furthermore, gymnastics should be held outside and at a distance, if possible. Further prohibited in gymnastics are those exercises in which students are in direct…

Read More

The end of the Omicron wave is not in sight. This is also shown by the Corona traffic light, which remains deep red this week. As can be seen from the working document of the responsible commission, which is available to APA, the risk figure, which is decisive for the coloring, has worsened once again in all federal states. However, the increase is leveling off in Salzburg, Tyrol, and Vienna, where omicron spread particularly early. In the 14-day trend, the increase in cases is lowest in Salzburg and Tyrol, at…

Read More

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns against the premature end of CoV protective measures. It is premature to consider the virus defeated, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday in Geneva. Since the emergence of the omicron variant about a decade ago, nearly 90 million new infections have been reported – more than in all of 2020, he said. “We are now seeing a very worrying increase in deaths in most regions of the world.” WHO said it was concerned that some governments no longer felt it necessary to further…

Read More

The onset of winter has brought snow as far as the lowlands. There, however, he will not be able to hold for long. “Already on Friday, we get 10 degrees plus in Vienna. The weekend will also be in double digits,” says meteorologist Roland Reiter of Ubimet. That applies to the entire Danube region. And even in alpine locations, a mild Atlantic current will ensure warm temperatures. And that is expected throughout the coming week, which is a vacation week for children in the provinces of Vienna and Lower Austria.…

Read More