Schanigärten will open on March 27, Vorarlberg already on 15 March

After discussions with experts, the government leadership announced the steps. Vorarlberg moves forward with opening steps in gastronomy, sports and culture. The federal government announced on Monday evening how it will proceed with social and economic life in Austria in the coming weeks. As had already been speculated, the government is moving forward with regional opening steps. Thus Vorarlberg will begin with 15. March clear relaxations – in the catering trade, with the sport and in the culture range. In the other federal states, at least school and youth sports…

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AstraZeneca vaccine for the time being only for under 65 years old

The vaccine of the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will continue to be vaccinated in Austria in the fight against the coronavirus for the time being only to those under 65 years of age. The Health Ministry made the announcement today, preceded by a recommendation from the National Vaccination Panel, which re-evaluated available data on the vaccine’s effectiveness. “This confirmed the recommendation currently in place,” the health ministry told APA. It added that the safety and immunogenicity data for the AstraZeneca vaccine were comparable in persons 65 years of age and…

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Only 1,409 new infections before lockdown summit

Within 24 hours, 1,409 new infections and 13 deaths were reported. After rapid increases in recent days, only 1,409 new infections were reported on the day of the lockdown summit. This represents only a slight increase compared to Monday of last week (1,270). So far, there have been 460,849 positive test results in Austria. As of today (March 01, 2021, 9:30 a.m.), 8,574 people across Austria have died as a result of Corona virus and 432,016 have recovered. Currently, 1,353 people are undergoing hospital treatment due to the Corona virus.…

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Highest 7-day incidence by age group is recorded in the group of 15- to 24-year-olds.

Of the 11,820 cases reported to authorities between February 15 and 21, 1,629 were among 15- to 24-year-olds. This corresponds to a share of just under 14 percent. In absolute terms, adolescents and young adults were thus behind 45- to 54-year-olds (1,928 cases/16.4 percent) and 35- to 44-year-olds and 25- to 34-year-olds (1,847 and 1,837 cases respectively/15.7 percent). However, if the infections in this period are extrapolated to 100,000 inhabitants on a group-specific basis, the 15- to 24-year-olds have the highest 7-day incidence of 170.5. This puts them well ahead…

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Distribution of free self-tests in pharmacies starts

The distribution of free coronavirus self-tests in pharmacies starts today. The population is to be supplied with them step by step, but for the time being only kits for 500,000 to 600,000 people are available. By mid-March, considerably more should already be available, and pharmacies would be supplied successively, informed Thomas Veitschegger, President of the Chamber of Pharmacists of Upper Austria. Veitschegger therefore appealed not to storm the pharmacies on the very first day. People who have an e-card and are older than 15 can purchase five “nose picker” self-tests…

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More than 20 million people in Great Britain are vaccinated

More than 20 million people have received a first dose of vaccination against coronavirus in the United Kingdom, or about 30 percent. This was announced by UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Sunday. In the U.K., both the Astrazeneca vaccine and the Biontech and Pfizer preparation are being given up to 12 weeks apart to ensure as many people as possible can receive an initial vaccination as quickly as possible. The number of second vaccinations required for full vaccination protection in the country was recently still below one million. According…

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Health Minister Anschober: Over one million fresh vaccine doses in March

Austria’s vaccination campaign picks up speed. More than one million vaccine doses will be delivered in March. Residents and employees of retirement and nursing homes were almost completely vaccinated as planned. This is also the main reason why the number of infections and deaths there has fallen sharply. Health Minister Rudi Anschober: “This is excellent proof that vaccinations work and are effective. This gives us great hope.” The statistical figures, which are published daily on the dashboard of the Ministry of Social Affairs, prove that the Länder are vaccinating as…

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Sunday record with more than 2,100 new infections reported

A new Sunday record of new infections has been recorded today. The Interior and Health Ministries reported 2,123 new cases in 24 hours. Since the beginning of the year, there had never been more than 2,000 cases on Sundays. The last time a similarly high figure was recorded in Austria was Sunday, December 13, 2020, when 2,641 were reported. Now, the average daily increase in new infections – based on the past seven days – is more than 2,000 new cases per day at 2,009. The seven-day incidence per 100,000…

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Corona crisis: few Austrians still believe in a normal summer

Austrians show little optimism about normality in the summer in view of the ongoing Corona crisis.As the latest survey conducted in mid-February as part of the “Austrian Corona Panel Project” (ACPP) of the University of Vienna shows, only a few Austrians still believe in a normal summer. Nine out of ten Austrians (89 percent) believe that the crisis will not be over for more than six months. At the beginning of the pandemic, only about a third of respondents thought life would not be back to normal for more than…

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