A strict shutdown took effect on Saturday in Austria, where residents have been told to leave their homes only if there is a good reason to do so.
Included in the list of good reasons is a walk or exercise.
But there are strict rules for seeing with people from households other than his own.
The vast majority of stores will be closed in the next three weeks. Only supermarkets and pharmacies are open.
Hairdressers, gyms and a host of other service professions have been shut down in an attempt to contain the corona infection.
The country’s ski resorts have been allowed to stay open, but with rules about distance between people. In some places, only local residents are allowed to use lifts and trails.
This is the third time that Austria is closing down during the corona pandemic.
The country’s chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, says he expects a third wave of infection in Europe in the coming months before an increased number of tests and vaccinations will seriously break the curve.
– I would expect that in many areas we can return to normal this summer, says Kurz.
– And I would think that testing will become quite common in the coming months. Like brushing teeth, the chancellor adds.
On Saturday, the first about 10,000 vaccine doses arrived in Austria, at the same time as the vaccine was distributed to the other EU countries.
Trucks full of vaccines from the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech came from Belgium via Germany and were brought with police escorts to a department store in the Austrian capital, Vienna.
As in the rest of the EU, Austria will start vaccinating on Sunday. Initially, residents of nursing homes and homes for the elderly will be offered the vaccine.
The number of confirmed cases of infection in Austria has already fallen in the last few days.
Measured per 100,000 inhabitants, the infection rate is lower than in neighboring Germany, among other places.
/ ritzau / dpa
