Category: General Interest

Novavax and Valeva are the latest two vaccines against Covid-19. Apart from vaccines, research is also being done on medicines, and there have been successes in this area. From the middle of next week, the treatment of Covid 19 patients in Austria could become more accessible. Then, with the active ingredient combination nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid), the first oral therapy on prescription should become more widely available in Austria. Experts explained this on Wednesday evening at an online doctors’ training session organized by the Austrian Society for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine…

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The increasing daily numbers of Ukrainian refugees pose significant challenges for the domestic authorities. Above all, a traffic jam has formed in the registration process, as figures from the Ministry of the Interior show. Since the beginning of the war, 164,000 people have entered Austria from Ukraine. More than 80 percent traveled, so about 30,000 will stay; 9,000 have been registered. Registration is necessary in order to later obtain a displaced person’s identity card and thus have access to the labor market. Registration is not necessary for medical care, food…

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The possible tightening and reintroducing protective measures have been a considerable discussion in the health sector during the past days, as the number of COVID infections continues to rise in Austria, including the comeback of the mandatory use of FFP2 masks. At the moment, masks are only compulsory in vital areas throughout Austria. So in the supermarket, in public means of transport, pharmacies and banks. The city of Vienna takes a stricter approach; here, masks are compulsory in all indoor areas, including shops and concerts. And the federal government may…

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So far, about 7,000 people who fled Ukraine because of the Russian attack have sought protection in Austria. They registered here this week, giving them a right of residence and access to the labor market. According to the Interior Ministry, about 150,000 refugees have already landed in Austria, but most of them travel on to other countries, often to relatives and friends. Shortly, refugees will also be transported from Moldova to Austria using an “air bridge.” It is being prepared in cooperation between the Interior and Foreign Ministries and UNHCR…

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Slowly, the responsible Commission must develop a new color because the Corona traffic light is getting more red. According to the committee’s working document published by APA, all federal states show an increasing trend in the number of infections over the past two weeks, which means they are moving further away from the orange zone of high risk. The test-friendly federal capital is still holding up best. Things are slowly getting tight in the normal wards, too. According to the forecast, 18 percent of the beds in Burgenland will already…

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Because coronavirus numbers are rising again worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns against ending protective measures too soon. These include wearing masks and keeping a distance. If the standards were lifted, the virus would have more opportunities to circulate, Maria von Kerkhove, WHO Covid 19 specialist, said today in Geneva. The problem, she said, is that much less testing is now being done worldwide. That makes it harder to monitor the spread of variants, she said. WHO never comments on the coronavirus management of individual countries. It only calls…

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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Russia to end military violence in Ukraine immediately. On Wednesday, the United Nations’ highest court in The Hague upheld a lawsuit filed by Ukraine against Russia. Ukraine accused Russia of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention and wanted the court to end the violence. The judges and justices were also expected to declare no legal basis for the war. Russia had boycotted the March 7 hearing in the case. Rulings by the UN’s highest court are binding, to be sure. But the court has…

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More than 300,000 people were infected with the CoV virus last week. This puts Austria in the front rank in a European comparison. Only Iceland and Liechtenstein currently have a higher seven-day incidence. More than 300,000 people have been infected with the Coronavirus in this country in the past week. This puts Austria among the absolute frontrunner in Europe. According to the statistics portal Statista, which refers to data from Johns Hopkins University and the Robert Koch Institute, of 46 European countries, only Iceland and Liechtenstein had more officially confirmed…

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The government says goodbye to permanent free tests The federal government is saying goodbye to the permanent free-of-charge testing at the end of March. Instead, these will be limited to a quota of five free PCR tests and five antigen tests per month, said Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) at a press conference on Tuesday: “Anyone who wants to be tested can continue to do so.” It remained open how it continues with the school tests. Rauch referred here to the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. With the “good…

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