Category: General Interest

Austria is tightening its entry regulations to curb the omicron variant. The new regulation will come into force next Monday, the health ministry announced Friday evening. In the future, only men and women who have valid proof of 2G will be allowed into Austria. Otherwise, travelers must be quarantined. Self-isolation can only be avoided by having a PCR test valid for 72 hours or proof of a booster vaccination. However, those who are neither freshly tested nor have already had their third sting must be quarantined from December 20 after…

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80 cases of the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus have been detected in Austria until the previous week. This is according to the variant report of the Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), which was updated on Friday. In the previous calendar week, there were 46 detections, compared with 2,558 cases of the delta variant from random samples of the total 29,458 new infections. The most Omikron cases, 37 so far, are in Vienna. The Omicron variant was classified as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization…

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During the long shopping weekend in Vienna, you should pay attention to where you park your car, because parking violators face hefty fines. Especially on this weekend, when Vienna’s stores also open on Sunday, parking violators will be particularly hunted down, according to ÖAMTC. A strong influx to the business streets and shopping centers is to be expected. If you have nothing to give away, you should definitely stop parking illegally. The replacement of a car parked in a handicapped or bus parking space can cost more than 400 euros.…

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The Corona Commission issued a warning of a new crisis from the Omicron Variant after its meeting on Thursday. In all likelihood, this will lead to a wave of infections “that may have significant economic and social adverse effects,” the body said in a release. For now, the situation is somewhat relaxed. Burgenland and Vienna have even left the high-risk area. High risk from Omicron in AustriaThe systemic risk posed by Omicron is assessed as “very high.” The commission points out that, due to the fourth wave of the epidemic,…

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During the current EU summit in Brussels, Chancellor Karl Nehammer spoke about the present Covid situation. He said the main issues at stake are vaccination and preparations to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant. EU vaccine procurement is “on a very, very good track,” he said. “Hundreds of millions” of vaccine doses have been ordered, the chancellor added. In addition, guidance has been received from manufacturers that vaccines adapted to the Omicron variant should be available in the spring, Nehammer said. Preparations are underway, and as soon as the…

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Together with the next door in the Advent calendar, the opening of the economy for vaccinated and convalescents after the fourth lockdown goes into the next round today. Upper Austria unlocks everything! In Lower Austria, Carinthia, Styria and Salzburg, the doors of restaurants and hotels open. Only in Vienna hotels and restaurants remain closed until Monday (20 December). Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Burgenland had already opened on Monday the whole economy except the night gastronomy. However, the lockdown for unvaccinated people remains in place throughout Austria. Also the gastronomy must lock…

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In light of the omicron variant, an increasing number of countries are tightening entry regulations. France restricts entry from Great Britain, Israel’s borders remain closed to tourists. Meanwhile, the EU states were only able to reach a minimal compromise at their summit in Brussels – new requirements for travelers are not ruled out. Britain is struggling with two CoV variants at the moment: The number of delta cases remains high, that of omicron cases is growing rapidly. On Thursday, almost 90,000 new infections were reported within 24 hours, a new…

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The World Health Organization’s (WHO) European office is appealing for caution during the Christmas holidays in light of the pandemic situation. “If you plan to see friends and family, keep groups small and, if possible, take a test beforehand,” it said in a statement Thursday. Even those who are fully vaccinated should avoid crowded and confined places and wear a mask, it said. “We are dealing with two highly transmissible variants that have the potential to overwhelm our already overburdened health systems,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri Kluge…

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Omicron has numerous mutations compared to delta, which is also evident in other characteristics. A Chinese research team at Hong Kong University has now demonstrated that omicron replicates 70 times faster in the respiratory tract than delta. That may facilitate its spread from person to person, the researchers said. In lung tissue, however, Omicron replicates 10 times slower than the original version of the coronavirus and than the Delta variant, which could contribute to less severe disease. The large differences in the efficiency of Omicron’s replication could help predict the…

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