COVID-19: Austria makes face-masks compulsory in more places after surge in cases

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has said on Friday, September 11 that the country will tighten mask-wearing and social distancing protocols at public events and in restaurants from Monday, September 14 to curb the spread of novel coronavirus. He added that people will have to wear face masks in shops, public transport, and schools. He further added that social gathering at private events will be limited to 50 participants indoors and 100 outdoors but professionally-organized seated events could run to up to 1,500 people indoors and 3,000 outdoors.

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Huge surge in infections

The small European nation has been witnessing a huge surge in infections since late June and the total tally has climbed 644 on Thursday, the highest since late March. While addressing a press conference Kurz warned people to take the situation seriously and follow all major precautionary measures to stop the spread. 

Meanwhile, Europe has recorded its leanest tourist summer season in history after six months of coronavirus pandemic as the continent eased lockdown restrictions to shape up its shrinking economy. According to reports, there is a major loss in revenues of around tens of billions of euros across the 27-nation European Union. The European Commissioner reportedly said that the bookings for September and October remain at a record low. He added that as there were fresh coronavirus cases over the summer, the government-imposed new restrictive measures to curb the spread which affected local tourism at a huge extent. 

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The European economy's rebound from the coronavirus recession slowed in August and some businesses and travel saw their near-complete shutdown in the spring, as per reports. An indicator of business activity by research firm IHS Markit fell back to a level that suggests the economy is barely growing after a relatively strong burst in July, when many countries had phased out the restrictions on public life that were imposed in the spring to contain the pandemic.

Earlier WHO warned Europe as the continent was reporting huge coronavirus cases on an average. This has been happening since governments started easing lockdowns implemented to curb the spread of the novel Coronavirus. WHO Europe chief Hans Kluge said during a conference that “authorities have been easing some of the restrictions and people have been dropping their guard”. 

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Image: AP