Category: General Interest

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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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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