Community Chat

[ms traditional]

Austria will lift some of its Wuhan coronavirus related restrictions next week. It will begin by reopening non-essential shops of less than 400 square meters on April 14, and then all shops and malls on May 1.

Strict rules about masks, social distancing, and the number of people allowed into a store at any one time will remain in place. Schools will remain closed until mid-May. Public events are banned  until the beginning of June. All of these decisions are subject to change, depending on conditions.

Austria’s prime minister said that his early response to pandemic has enabled the country to begin reopening. Austria instituted its national lockdown on March 16. It was one of the first European nations to do so, but not by all that much.

Austria has around 13,000 reported cases of the virus and is adding to that total by about 250 per day. Fewer than 300 Austrians are reported to have died from the virus. Yesterday’s total was 30.

The country’s logarithmic curve of total cases flattened around the beginning of April, but has not yet moved downwards. The number of currently infected people in Austria is declining, though. It peaked at around 9,300 on April 3. As of yesterday, April 6, the number was 8,300.

The fact that recoveries are now outpacing new cases appears to be the key factor in Austria’s decision. Absent a new wave of cases, the country need not fear that its hospitals will be overwhelmed.

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i'm sure our experts will be watching........

[Oznell]

Oh, I'm sure they will too, @ms traditional .  Of course, everything still evolving and subject to change, but still, thanks for bringing promising news.  Fingers crossed.

[CrazyDaisy]

Life slowly getting back to normal, wonderful news.

[Bhvbum]

that is good news for them but has no relation to the US. 

It has a population of 8.8 mil and just New York City is 19mil. 

We have a long way to go, the mid west is just starting. 

[Porcelain]

This will be a good test case. I hope it works out for them. I am sure many will be watching to see what happens with their COVID-19 statistics.

It doesn't sound like they're really re-opening the country yet, so the headline is not quite accurate. The body of this post or article says they are only re-opening the small shops that had closed.

One day that will be us as well, so it's good to have something of a preview.

[CrazyDaisy]

And a happy uplifting discusion gets squashed.

[millieshops]

Just as I think those of us who have escaped infection so far would profit from everything the medical community has learned in the last few months if we did fall ill, I think our nation will profit from watching the experiences of other countries as they enter into the post-virus months.

ETA -  Just want to add that as I was writing my response, I realized that all the numbers in the report meant little to me because I had no idea of the population of Austria.  Just Googled, only to find out the whole country is about half of Florida's population so, for me, I can now compare those statistics to those of my area.  Let's just say it's not time to re-open Florida!

[ms traditional]

i'm sure we'll benefit from their experience - logistics, how people respond, effects on business/economy,  how the virus behaves. 

i read that Austria has closed its borders with Italy, Switzerland and Luxembourg. i don't see mention of opening those up.

An edit: i'm adding that Germany has partially closed its border w/Austria.

[Kachina624]

I wish just one scientist or lab would publish one iota of proof that these stupid home-made masks have any effect on the spread of disease.

[Mimi 1883]

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@Bhvbum wrote:

that is good news for them but has no relation to the US. 

It has a population of 8.8 mil and just New York City is 19mil. 

We have a long way to go, the mid west is just starting. 

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@Bhvbum  I just looked it up - The U.S. is 117 x larger than Austria.