corona austria mandatory masks

 

Mandatory masks in Austria

Mandatory masks in retail and public transport will fall from June, Vienna will take a stricter path

In Vienna, the mask requirement is maintained in public transport, pharmacies, orderlies and hospitals. The obligation to vaccinate continues to rest

The pandemic is not over. But it "gives us a breathing space," said Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) on Tuesday at a press conference with Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP). 

And the more free breathing is also met figuratively: from June 1, the FFP2 mask obligation will fall in public transport and in those shops where it was still valid, i.e. also in supermarkets, tobacconists and pharmacies (on sale, for medical services such as corona tests, the mask obligation will remain).

For particularly vulnerable settings, i.e. in hospitals and nursing homes, the mask requirement continues to apply. It also persists in medical practices. 

At the same time, Rauch also made a recommendation to continue wearing a mask wherever there are many people and it is not possible to keep a distance. 

He himself handles this as well. "We need to get out of crisis mode and learn to live with the pandemic," the minister said.

Vienna maintains compulsory masks in public transport

There could be further exceptions: Although Rauch said that he had talked about the easing with representatives of all federal states, and he spoke of "for the first time nationwide uniform rules".

However, the rules will not be completely uniform even with June: in Vienna, the mask requirement will continue to apply in public transport and pharmacies. 

This was announced by Vienna's mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) on Tuesday evening at a press conference. "We were always on the safe side in Vienna during the entire corona crisis," said Ludwig.

Even through difficult phases of the pandemic, such as during the Delta wave, the cases of illness and deaths in Vienna were lower than in other regions of Austria. 

Ludwig stressed again that the pandemic is not over yet. The time when a wave possibly triggered by new mutations will be felt is unclear, so one must continue to be careful.

 Vienna took note of the measures announced by the federal government on Tuesday and supplemented them with the mask requirement in the areas mentioned. 

Ludwig also calls for a timely vaccination campaign before autumn and assures that the all-gargling test program in Vienna will continue to be maintained.

Criticism of the renewed Vienna Sonderweg came on Tuesday from the coalition partner. Today's decision by Mayor Ludwig is "disproportionate," Bettina Emmerling, club president of Neos Vienna, said in a statement.

 Restrictions on personal freedom should only be applied in an absolutely exceptional case in a democratic state governed by the rule of law.

 Emmerling criticizes a "shift in values over the past two years", which now does not tempt politicians to intervene in people's lives beyond the necessary extent. "We Neos do not agree with the mayor's decision – but it is solely in his competence as governor!", is the summary of Emmerling.

Back to the "mask break" announced by Health Minister Rauch: as is known, the characteristic of a break is that it will eventually come to an end: for the time being, the length is scheduled for three months.

 "The mask will come back," Rauch added in his remarks. In what form, that depends on autumn. Originally, the FFP2 mask obligation should have applied until at least July 8 – as the Minister of Health had recently confirmed.

 Why did he change his mind? "The epidemiological situation has changed since then, and I am not someone who has to cling to something convulsively," Rauch said in response to a journalist's question.

Mandatory vaccination remains dormant

Autumn will also be decisive for how things will continue in terms of compulsory vaccination. In any case, it will remain suspended over the summer. Such a regulation had already been made in March until the end of May, now this state of affairs will be extended further. 

The federal Government is thus following the recommendations of the Compulsory Vaccination Commission. 

There are four medical and legal experts who are constantly evaluating the situation and submitted their report on the current situation on Monday evening.

Minister Edtstadler said that although the vaccination was suitable for achieving the goal of preventing an overload of the health system. 

But the situation – with regard to hospital occupancy (almost 600 hospital beds were occupied by corona patients on Tuesday) and the number of new infections (2,177) - is quite different from when the law was passed in winter. 

And the obligation to vaccinate is a serious interference with fundamental rights and is therefore only permissible if it is proportionate.

 The Commission does not see this proportionality at present. Nevertheless, people should get vaccinated, the vaccination offers the best protection. "And we don't know what the virus is up to yet," Edtstadler said.

The report of the compulsory vaccination Commission states that "one must be prepared for several scenarios for the fall". 

There could also be a scenario in which the general vaccination obligation "seems necessary and appropriate". This would be the case if "a sufficiently contagious and pathogenic variant of Sars-CoV-2 meets a population whose immunity has greatly decreased over the summer".

We want to prevent this: we are currently preparing everything logistically to be able to offer booster vaccinations from the end of August or the beginning of September – very "close to the basics about practical doctors and in the companies", as Rauch explained. 

The experts assumed that this would be necessary in the fall. Then you would be well prepared for the winter. Currently, a fourth vaccination is generally recommended by the National Vaccination Board only for over 80s.

PCR tests in schools will also be eliminated from June, the Ministry of Education announced on Tuesday.

Trade responds positively 

Some reactions to the announcements of Rauch and Edtstadler were positive: the trade association and the trade union GPA, which had campaigned for an end to the mask requirement for the trade employees, welcomed the "turning in" of the Minister of Health. 

While the neos are positive about the easing of restrictions for trade employees, they warned that the government should "not oversleep again this summer and do nothing until autumn". SPÖ health spokesman Philip Kucher is already missing a clear plan for the autumn. The safety of the people is being put at risk again, the government is acting on the principle of hope.

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, in turn, accused the government of having "lost all reference to reality". A life without compulsory masks and vaccinations must be the norm.

 As for Vienna, Vienna's FPÖ leader Dominik Nepp demanded that the state follow the federal government and end the "mask fetish".

Criticism from patient advocate Pilz

The Viennese patient advocate Sigrid Pilz also criticized the federal government's approach. She does not understand the decision and the choice of words. "Respite" would suggest that breathing with the mask would be impossible, no life in the "disaster scenario" sounds as if solidarity with the vulnerable is terrible, she stated on Twitter. She warned that no one would stick to upcoming measures.

Although there were words of appreciation from experts that the government was more accessible for the topic of preparation, criticism was leveled at the easing. 

For example, virologist Dorothea van Laer said that she had advocated maintaining the obligation to wear masks in pharmacies and in the vital trade in order to be able to protect vulnerable groups more easily. 

Thomas Czypionka from the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) was surprised why more work was not being done to increase the vaccination rate. (Gudrun Springer, 24.5.2022) .