Category: General Interest

Education Minister Heinz Faßmann announced at a press conference on Saturday that schools will receive five million free Corona self-tests starting January 18. The new “anterio-nasal tests” will allow a simple swab in the front of the nose. Students and teachers are to have the opportunity to take this test once a week on a voluntary basis. It is not yet clear when schools will return to face-to-face instruction. Simple self-testsThe new test works quite simple and is also not painful due to the removal in the front nose area:…

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In Vienna, access to the Corona mass tests will be facilitated because of the current manageable influx. Specifically, starting tomorrow, Sunday, the mandatory registration for the Marx Hall and Messe locations is no longer necessary. That is: Only for a virus check in the Stadthalle a fixed appointment booking in advance is necessary, as the office of Health City Councillor Peter Hacker (SPÖ) announced on Saturday afternoon. A spokesman explained that the Stadthalle is the smallest of the three test locations and consequently less flexible than the other two. This…

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The Philippines bans the entry of foreign travelers from Austria starting Jan. 10 to 15 due to the outbreak there of the new South African COVID-19 variant. Foreign passengers arriving directly from Austria, as well as those who have been there within 14 days immediately preceding arrival in the Philippines, will be restricted from entering the country starting 12 midnight of Jan. 10, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement Friday. Those who will arrive before Jan. 10 will be allowed to enter the country but they will be…

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Because of the pandemic, people are generally encouraged to pay by card. The number of transactions with domestic ATM cards increased by more than 20 percent from 900 million to 1.1 billion, as announced by PSA Payment Services Austria (PSA) on Thursday. If the ATM use of foreign cardholders in Austria is added, more than 1.2 billion transactions with a volume of 58.3 billion euros were processed on behalf of banks via the PSA – for the first time in the history of Austrian ATM cards, according to the data.…

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Twitter has suspended Donald Trump’s account for 12 hours for now, but threatens to delete it completely. In view of the riot at the seat of the US Congress, major online services have blocked the accounts of the outgoing President Donald Trump for the time being. The short messaging service Twitter blocked the account of the outgoing incumbent for twelve hours on Wednesday. The company also threatened Trump with a permanent exclusion from his preferred communication platform. The online network Facebook also blocked the president’s page for an initial 24…

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The approval of Moderna’s Corona vaccine has cleared another hurdle. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave the green light. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended conditional marketing authorization for U.S. pharmaceutical company Moderna’s Corona vaccine. The EMA made the announcement in Amsterdam on Wednesday. The final decision on the approval must now be made by the EU Commission – which is considered a formality. The EU can call a total of 160 million doses of Moderna. For Austria, which is always entitled to about 2 percent of the EU…

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The “Magi” or the Three Kings and their star were guests of the Mayor of Vienna. Due to Corona, there was no live singing this year. In the coming days, several more politicians will receive the traditional visit. Due to Corona no live singing this yearThis year the four carol singers were not allowed to sing live as usual due to the Corona rules, so the carol song was played from a tape recorder. Afterwards they delivered the message of peace and the blessings for the year 2021 as well…

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Austrian Press Agency reported that the Logistics experts from the Ministry of Defense and representatives of the Ministry of Health and the federal states agreed that around 21,000 doses are to be vaccinated this week. It was further reported that by next Tuesday, another 43,000 has been registered for vaccination. With the approximately 6,800 vaccinated so far, the target until Tuesday of next week is to vaccinate almost 71,000 people against the coronavirus. The 60,000 doses arriving in the coming calendar week will be inoculated rapidly, it was likewise reported.…

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Experts warned against gatherings on holidays. In many countries, the numbers of dead and infected are now rising. While vaccination promises hope for normality, numbers of newly infected are skyrocketing in numerous countries across Europe. Experts warned against gatherings over the Christmas holidays. Now the predictions have come true:40 percent of tests in the Czech Republic turned out positive in recent days. On Monday, authorities recorded 6220 new infections within 24 hours. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 12,070 infected people have died in the Czech Republic. That is almost…

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