Category: General Interest

Skiing is prohibited, but cross-country skiing is allowed. What is the difference? Skiing is not prohibited, but lifts and gondolas are closed for tourist purposes until 23 December. If you want to ski, you have to organize for yourself how to go uphill. Cross-country skiing tracks open as outdoor recreation areas on December 7. Can I have a drink on a bench in the shopping center between shopping? No. Shopping centers may open again from Monday, but customers are not allowed to “linger in general areas”. Restaurants will remain closed,…

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Strict entry rules will apply between 19 December and 10 January to combat the coronavirus. Anyone coming to Austria from a risk area will have to be in quarantine for ten days, free testing by PCR is only possible after five days. The corresponding ordinance is currently being drafted in the Ministry of Health. Some details are still open. The text of the ordinance will be available next week to give those affected enough time to prepare for the new law, the Ministry of Health. ORF.at reported. What is already…

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against seeing the vaccinations, which are likely to be available soon, as the sole remedy against the coronavirus pandemic. “Vaccinations alone will not do the job,” WHO expert Mike Ryan said today in Geneva. They are undoubtedly a powerful and effective tool. But many previous hygiene rules, such as social distance, wearing masks and frequent hand washing, must continue to be observed. Despite all efforts, health systems in many countries are on the verge of collapse, said Ryan. WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus…

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After the first doses of vaccine have arrived in Great Britain, the British health service NHS (National Health Service) wants to start vaccination from Tuesday. NHS providers managing director Chris Hopson said today on BBC television. Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke of the largest mass vaccination in the history of Great Britain. Already next week, 800,000 vaccine doses will be available. Millions more are to be added by the end of the year. According to a government spokesman, the majority of the 40 million vaccine doses ordered are expected to…

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The Ministry of Integration and the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF) have started an information offensive for people with a migration background for the mass tests for the corona virus that will begin on Friday. The information in 17 languages is available via a multilingual hotline, direct SMS, or cooperation with multipliers from the communities, announced Integration Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP). For example, online consultations are held several times a day in different languages, or multilingual employees answer questions about the mass tests by calling the hotline on 01/715 10 51…

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Christmas is saved – theoretically. After the announcement of the Federal Government to loosen the Corona restrictions over Christmas and New Year’s Eve in almost all Federal States, meetings “in the closest family or friend” up to ten people are possible. Before the big meeting on Christmas Eve it would be advisable to avoid all contacts as far as possible, which makes especially the journey to the family the biggest challenge. Travel by train ÖBB has announced that it will double the number of mask checks on trains, with “security…

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Although the Christmas market on Rathausplatz has been cancelled, the Ice Dream is taking place, and even earlier than planned. Not only in January, but already on Christmas Eve, December 24, the ice skating pleasure will open, the organizer Stadt Wien Marketing announced on Thursday. Details of the security concept will soon be communicated, it was said. In any case, preparations are already well underway: the huts already erected at the Christmas Market will have to be dismantled to make room for the ice dream. Then the opening on December…

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From Monday, December 7, public services will also be possible again: this was agreed upon by the churches and religious communities on Thursday in a new agreement with the Ministry of Education. According to this agreement, a minimum distance of 1.5 meters must be maintained during church services, during which a mouth and nose protector must be worn. Parish and choir singing will remain suspended until further notice. “Religious celebrations that can be postponed are also postponed”, for example weddings. On Thursday morning, the Catholic bishops discussed the key points…

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All provincial capitals were covered in snow on Thursday, as reported by the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG). The last time this happened was on January 24, 2019, and the fact that it was already white in all provincial capitals in the first half of December is already eight years ago: 2012 from December 10 to 13. In Vienna last winter it was white for a short time only on 19 January and 12 February 2020. In 2018 there was already a thin blanket of snow in the…

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