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The government has given the country a “hard” blockade. The fear of a collapse of the health system is great. But Austria is also facing crucial weeks from an economic point of view.
Appeals to the government of Austrian retail and industry were ineffective. In recent days, their representatives had almost insistently asked not to expect a second “hard” block in the country. The economy would hardly be able to resist such a thing.
But the government had no choice but to paralyze economic life more or less next Tuesday and close schools by 6 December. Now it’s about saving lives, Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober said when he announced the latest drastic measures.
Austria is currently affected by the coronavirus pandemic to a greater extent than almost all other European countries. Over the past seven days, the number of new infections reported has averaged over 7,000 and that with a population of 8.9 million people. There is currently a huge risk that hospitals will no longer be able to cope with the onslaught of patients or that so many nurses become ill with Covid-19 that patient care can no longer be guaranteed.
In some cases, the Austrians have to attribute the new block to themselves. After the country coped relatively well with the first wave of the pandemic in the spring, some inattention has spread. Also on this Saturday there was a crowd in the shopping streets of Vienna, as if the pandemic was far away. Some stores attracted customers with discounts and long queues formed quickly.
Unfortunately, government intervention now appears to be needed to prevent people from acting on short notice. Not only is the stability of the health system at stake, but also the condition of some sectors in the medium term.
Tourism in Austria in particular is on the verge of collapse. It contributes about 7.5% to gross domestic product, much more than in many industrialized countries. Tourism in Vienna has been declining since March; many companies are economically on the brink of the abyss. The same cannot be repeated in the winter resorts in the west of the country. The risk of the winter season being largely canceled is currently high. With the latest and drastic measures, Austria is also fighting for the survival of an important economic sector.
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