The schools will continue to run as distance learning. The holidays are brought forward in Upper Austria and Styria. The minimum distance is increased to two meters. Gastronomy and tourism are also closed in February. These are some new measures after intensive consultation with experts, the federal government and the social partners. In concrete terms, the hard lockdown will remain in effect until at least February 7th and tourism is taboo during the month of February.
From January 25, the distance rule will be extended from one to two meters. This applies to people who do not live in the same household. FFP-2 masks are required to be worn on public transport and before visiting retail stores. These are offered in food retailing at cost price and people on low incomes should receive them for free. The first steps may then be taken from 8 February when the number of infections will fall below 50 new infections per 100.000 inhabitants in the coming period. But even then the two meter distance rule and the use of FFP2 masks will be maintained.
Ski holidays remain taboo, on the contrary. Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ), for his part, called for political cohesion - he hoped that the federal government would continue to involve states in decisions in the future. He also expressed the hope that “vaccination will again give a lot of freedom”. “We have to think about the country, not about the customers,” said the Styrian governor Hermann Schützenhöfer (ÖVP). At the same time, he warned not to speak of an emergency related to the pandemic - “our parents at war” have experienced such a crisis, but a crisis in which things are not so bad: “Each of us represents a country. we all work for Austria. “
This year, a ski holiday is not possible during the semester break. Hotels remain closed and skiing holidays are prohibited. At 11.00 a.m. today, the government announced the extension of the lockdown at a press conference. For tourism and gastronomy it means waiting longer. The end does not appear until the end of February or the beginning of March at the earliest. Winter tourism is therefore canceled. Ski slopes are only available to local residents and day trippers. Christoph Walser, president of the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce, demanded clarity from the government. He got it today.
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