The hotel rating platform Wellness Heaven recently asked 1,376 hoteliers which items are most frequently stolen. As a result, towels and bathrobes are among the most commonly stolen items. Closely followed by clothes hangers, pens, and cosmetics. In addition to these “common” items, there are also a number of outliers that indicate a lively theft imagination on the part of the offenders: As reported by a Berlin hotel, guests who stole all of the bathroom fittings—the head of a rain shower, a hydromassage shower, a toilet seat, a drainpipe, or…
Read MoreA new scam: fake parking tickets on parked cars
A new scam is circulating: Offenders leave fake parking tickets on parked vehicles, regardless of whether they are properly parked. These are marked with the letterhead of the Vienna Provincial Police Directorate and the police logo. The victims are asked to pay a fee because the “police” claim that an offence was committed due to improper parking. By scanning the QR code on the fake parking ticket, the victims are taken to a payment page where they have to enter their bank details. The mass phenomenon is a scam.The police…
Read MoreWeather warning due to rain, snow and black ice
Rain, snow, and black ice are expected in December. Geosphere Austria issued weather warnings on Thursday: There will be widespread rain and partly snowfall on Friday, with black ice possible in the short term. Fresh snow will “probably fall throughout Austria” on Saturday, threatening traffic problems. On Friday night, it will rain and snow in most of Austria. In the south, it will rain down to around 2,000 meters; everywhere else, the snow line will be between low altitudes and 1,000 meters. According to Geosphere, black ice from freezing rain…
Read MoreCity of Vienna increases nursing salaries in two shortage areas
Vienna is increasing the salaries of hospital nurses in two areas where there are shortages, namely trauma surgery and neurosurgery. This was announced by City Councillor for Health Peter Hacker (SPÖ) on Wednesday on the ORF program “Wien heute”. According to the city, there is a shortage of nursing staff in both specialities. In response to an APA enquiry, he added that there is now the possibility of overpayment in order to incentivize nursing staff to switch to these areas. Qualified nursing staff receive almost 680 euros more per monthQualified…
Read MoreUrgent warning about cost trap with new vignette
The new vignettes for 2024 will become effective on December 1, 2023. However, there is a trap you could fall into in addition to innovations. On December 1, 2023, the new vignette year begins; this also marks the start of validity for the new adhesive vignette in sunny yellow and the digital vignette in 2024. In addition to the colour of the vignette, there are a few new additions this year. “The 1-day vignette is new for the first time. Like the 10-day vignette, it is now valid immediately after…
Read MoreBack to the mask? The Health Minister makes a recommendation
In view of the rising incidence of coronavirus and influenza, Health Minister Johannes Rauch on Wednesday advised people to wear masks again in places where many elderly or sick people come together – for example in hospitals, nursing homes or doctors’ surgeries. This also applies when people are crowded together, for example in crowded pubs. There is no specific mask requirement. This is because hospitals are not overloaded. In the middle of corona waves“We are in the middle of a coronavirus wave. The national wastewater monitoring clearly shows this,” said…
Read MoreThe weekend brings rain and snowfall for the whole of Austria
Drivers should prepare for wintry road conditions and adapt their driving accordingly. Skiing enthusiasts, on the other hand, should be delighted at the prospect of fresh powder snow, which will create ideal conditions for winter sports activities. The forecast for Friday already brings us the cold snap: the Eastern Alps will be under the influence of an Italian low and its band of clouds on Friday. Overall, dense clouds will predominate in all parts of the country. There will also be widespread and persistent rain or snow, although most of…
Read MoreAustrians donated more than ever before in the previous year
At 1.1 billion euros, people donated more than ever before to good causes in the previous year—200 million euros more than expected, despite the highest inflation in 50 years. This is according to the 2023 Donation Report by the Fundraising Association of Austria, which was published on Tuesday. The driving force behind this record generosity was the immense willingness to donate aid to Ukraine. “The extent of the willingness to help the millions of people affected by the war in Ukraine has exceeded all expectations. 150 to 200 million euros…
Read MoreCorona in wastewater: highest value ever
Almost 30,000 people in Austria were on sick leave with a coronavirus infection last week, and the trend is rising, warns the ÖGK. Wastewater monitoring now also shows a clear picture: since the outbreak of the pandemic, the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater has never been as high as it is now. Now that quarantine, reporting obligations, and free tests have been abolished, the most reliable means of measuring the viral load in the country is wastewater monitoring, i.e., the systematic recording of coronavirus concentrations in wastewater. And this speaks…
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