Covid-19 in Austria: Eastern Austria Extends Lockdown

The current protective measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic will be extended.

The provinces of Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland will extend the regulations currently in place, such as exit regulations, closure of retail stores and body-related services as well as schools in distance learning.

Instead of the originally planned end date on April 11, the lockdown will be extended by one week until April 18.

The reason for extending the current measures is the lack of trend reversal - not only in the numbers of new infections, but especially in the "very tense situation" in the intensive care units of hospitals in the eastern region.

"The health and safety of the population is my absolute priority. We must ensure that the capacities in the intensive care units of the clinics are maintained. Because not only Covid-19 patients are treated there, but also a second group of patients who are fighting for their lives after a heart attack or a car accident," said Vienna's Mayor Michael Ludwig, in a joint online press conference with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler, Styria's Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer and Oswald Wagner, Vice Rector for Clinical Affairs at the Medical University of Vienna.

The following measures will continue to apply for the three provinces, which build up the eastern region of Austria:

Exit restriction from 0-24 h:

Leaving and staying outside one's own private living area is only permitted for the known exceptional reasons, such as:

• Averting an immediate danger to life, limb or property;
• Care and assistance to persons in need of support, and exercise of family rights and fulfillment of family obligations;
• Meeting the necessary basic needs of daily life, such as, in particular:
  • contact with the cohabiting partner not living in the common household or contact with individual closest relatives (parents, adult children, siblings) or individual important reference persons with whom physical or non-physical contact is usually maintained several times a week,
  • the provision of basic necessities of daily life,
  • the use of health care services or testing for Covid-19 as part of screening programs,
• Occupational purposes and educational purposes, as necessary,
• Spending time outdoors alone, with persons in the shared household, or with individual relatives or close caregivers for physical and mental recreation.

For meetings, the 1+1 rule applies both indoors and outdoors:

1 household may meet with a maximum of 1 individual (relative or close caregiver).

Trips to the secondary residence are permitted.

Commerce:

• Only those stores offering goods for daily use (such as supermarkets and pharmacies) will remain open;
• All other stores will be closed;
• Open stores may only offer those goods that correspond to their typical range;
• Click & Collect is possible for all stores. The transfer of goods must take place outdoors.

Services:

• Closure of body-related service businesses (e.g. hairdressers, masseurs, beauty salons).
• Still possible are at least two-sided business-related stores (B2B).

Gastronomy:

• Regulations for food service remain unchanged: no on-site consumption, pickup possible from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., delivery 24/7

Culture and Recreation:

• Closure of all recreational and cultural facilities, this now again includes zoos, zoos and botanical gardens, as well as museums, art halls, cultural exhibition houses, libraries, libraries and archives.

Sports and youth:

• Youth sports and youth activities gatherings are prohibited during the lockdown.
• Outdoor sports facilities may still be entered by amateur athletes, but not indoors. However, the 1+1 rule applies here as well: maximum 1 household and 1 individual.

FFP2 obligation:

• There are certain outdoor areas in Vienna, where an FFP2 mask obligation was installed. For details, check the following page: www.wien.gv.at/ffp2-im-freien

Schools:

• Distance Learning applies until April 18.