Category: General Interest

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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The topic of Christmas during the Corona crisis is polarizing within Europe. The EU Commission sees this as a particular risk of renewed spread and urges caution. In general, the Brussels authority recommends that the member states do not relax the rules for meetings in the first place. And if they do, then only with strict quarantine conditions for at least seven days before and after, it says. Contacts should always be limited and reduced to the same people during the holidays. Residential community may not be leftItaly’s government is…

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“Baby elephant” is the Austrian word of the year 2020, and by a large margin the symbol for the minimum distance to avoid SARS-CoV-2 infection. The second place was already taken by “Corona” itself. The expert jury, headed by Rudolf Muhr from the “Gesellschaft für Österreichisches Deutsch” (GSÖD – Society for Austrian German language), justified the choice, which was made in cooperation with the APA – Austria Press Agency. In third place was the ambiguous “verblümeln”, according to the jury an “ironic play on words with the name of the…

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Trade union and chamber of commerce agreed on a special collective agreement.The social partners have agreed on an extension of opening hours in the retail sector on 8, 12 and 19 December in order to unbundle the flow of customers somewhat after the relaxation of the Corona lockdown. On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8), retailers can exceptionally open between 09.00 and 19.00 hours. Previously, opening hours on December 8 were limited to 10.00 to 18.00 hours. On the two remaining shopping Saturdays before Christmas, December 12 and…

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According to the latest recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), under certain circumstances one should also wear a mouth and nose protector at home. Especially if you receive visits from outsiders and the ventilation does not work well or its effect cannot be properly assessed. In recommendations updated on Wednesday, it is stated that this is necessary “regardless of whether a distance of at least one meter can be maintained”. As far as the storage of protective masks is concerned, the masks should not be worn on the arm…

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The Lockdown is responsible for the fact that in several provinces in Austria at present substantially more garbage is produced. Because of the on-line trade there is a third more cardboard boxes. The lockdown also means that more bulky waste is being disposed. This causes additional costs. In Lienz in East Tyrol there are 60 garbage collection posts which overflow these days again and again. It is because of the bulky cardboard waste that causes a 30 percent increase in waste. According to Gerlinde Küberl, chairwoman of the Lienz environmental…

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The United Nations wants to help hundreds of thousands of sailors who are stuck on their ships because of the coronavirus pandemic. In a resolution passed yesterday by 193 countries, the UN member states will call for seafarers to be classified as systemically relevant. This should ensure that the approximately 400,000 stranded seafarers can return to their home countries despite the worldwide travel restrictions and that the crews of the ships can be replaced. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had already drawn attention to the desperate situation of the stranded…

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