Austria’s coronavirus commission has warned the threat “must be taken seriously”
(Picture: Getty Images)Austria is set to introduce a lockdown for millions of people who are not fully vaccinated, after record infections were recorded.
The country recorded 11,975 cases on Thursday, and with intensive care units under increasing pressure, Austria’s coronavirus commission has warned the threat “must be taken seriously”.
Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said a national lockdown for the unvaccinated was “probably inevitable”, and two-thirds of the population should not suffer because others were hesitant.
Upper Austria, which borders Germany and the Czech Republic and has a population of 1.5 million, has the country’s highest level of infection and the lowest vaccination rate.
The province plans to introduce a lockdown for the unvaccinated from Monday, following recommendations from medical experts.
Austria has already placed the unvaccinated under tighter rules including bans on going to restaurants, cinemas, on ski lifts and to hairdressers, but things are about to get even tougher in Upper Austria.
Those who have not been vaccinated will be placed under ‘stay at home’ orders meaning they can only leave for essential reasons like going to work, buying food or exercise.
If infections, which reached record highs on Thursday, continue to rise further measures could be introduced in other parts of the country.
Critics say the lockdown will be very hard to enforce.
Austria has the lowest vaccination rate of any western European country apart from Liechtenstein, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
