Austria has from Monday, November 22, introduced its fourth lockdown to tackle its current wave of Covid-19. In the streets of Vienna, around 35 000 people have gathered for a protest against the rules, British public broadcaster BBC reports.
The set of restrictions is set to last for ten days and can be extended until December 12. The federal government has ordered both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents to stay home for all but essential reasons, including work, exercise and shopping for food. Restaurants, bars, hairdressers, theatres and non-essential shops must all close their doors.
Read also: Austria begins vaccination of 5-to-11-year-olds amid lockdown for unvaccinated
«A lockdown, a relatively tough method, a sledgehammer, is the only option to reduce the numbers [of infections] here,» Austrian Federal Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein noted to ORF TV on Sunday, November 21.
On Saturday, November 20, tens of thousands of people protested in the capital Vienna ahead of the lockdown. Waving national flags and banners reading «Freedom», protesters shouted «Resistance!» and booed the police, BBC reports.
The Central European country plans also to impose a mandatory vaccination mandate from February 1, 2022 and to punish the unvaccinated with an administrative fine, British news portal The Guardian reports.
Austria introduces full lockdown, large protest takes place in Vienna
