Days after Austria imposed a lockdown on the unvaccinated, it has announced a full national Covid-19 lockdown starting on Monday.
Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said it would last a maximum of 20 days and there would be a legal requirement to get vaccinated from 1 February 2022.
He was responding to record case numbers and one of the lowest vaccination levels in Western Europe.
Latest figures show an incidence rate of 990.7 cases per 100,000 people in the past week, and Health Minister Wolfgang MĂŒckstein said imposing a lockdown was a âlast resortâ. A record 15,809 cases were reported in the past 24 hours, in a population of under nine million.
Under the measures, Austrians will be asked to work from home, non-essential shops will close, and schools will remain open for children who require face-to-face learning. They will continue until 12 December, but will be reassessed after 10 days.
Many other European countries are imposing restrictions as cases rise.
Bad news for us as well, thereâs lots of covid around here including the school where the wifes works as a dinner lady, receptionist off as well as a couple of teaching assistants.
Linking the two threads youâve started Omah, it seems as if no one is ready least of in Europe for another wave.
Speaking to the BBC, regional director Dr Hans Kluge warned that some 500,000 more deaths > could be recorded by March unless urgent action is taken.
Dr Kluge said introducing measures like mask wearing could immediately help.
The warning comes as several nations report record-high infection rates and introduce full and partial lockdowns.
Dr Kluge said factors like the winter season, insufficient vaccine coverage and the regional dominance of the more transmissible Delta variant were behind the spread. He called for increased vaccine uptake and the implementation of basic public health measures and new medical treatments to help fight the rise.
âCovid-19 has become once again the number one cause of mortality in our region,â he told the BBC, adding âwe know what needs to be doneâ in order to fight the disease.
Dr Kluge said mandatory vaccination measures should be seen as a âlast resortâ but that it would be âvery timelyâ to have a âlegal and societal debateâ about the issue.
âBefore that there are other means like the Covid pass,â he said, adding that this is ânot a restriction of liberty, rather it is a tool to keep our individual freedom.â
Germany is in the grip of a âdramaticâ fourth Covid wave, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said on the eve of a crisis meeting with regional leaders.
Daily infections hit a new German record of 52,826 on Wednesday as European governments responded to a surge on much of the continent.
Belgium announced a series of measures in an attempt to avoid a lockdown.
âAll the alarm signals are red,â said Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, as he told people to limit personal contact.
âEuropeâs map is quickly going red, and we are the same.â
Children in Belgium will have to wear masks from the age of 10, rather than the current age of 12. Working from home will become compulsory from Saturday for four days a week. Passes known as Covid Safe Tickets will be required in theatres, cinemas and museums.
A third booster vaccination will be rolled out for all Belgians by the end of April 2022.
France is being hit by a fifth wave of Covid, according to government spokesperson Gabriel Attal, with more than 20,000 new cases reported on Wednesday for the first time since Augusts. But there are no plans beyond the current Covid passport as âwe are coping better than previously thanks to the vaccines and the health passâ.**
**He said France was light years away from the situation a year ago, and anyone aged 50-64 could now make an appointment for a third Covid vaccination.
Coronavirus infections rates in the Czech Republic hit a new record for the second time this week, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
It announced that the daily tally jumped to 22,936 on Friday, almost 500 more than the previous record set on Tuesday.
The countryâs infection rate has risen to 929 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days.
In a worrying sign, 110 people died on Thursday, the ministry said, with the daily death toll surpassing 100 for the first time since April.
The government has approved new restrictions to tackle the surge, targeting the unvaccinated in an effort to increase a vaccination rate that is below the European Union average.
Starting Monday, most unvaccinated people will no longer be allowed to show negative coronavirus tests in order to attend public events, go to bars and restaurants, visit hairdressers, museums and similar facilities or use hotels.
Only people who are vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 will remain eligible.
Overall, the nation of 10.7 million has registered almost 2 million cases with 32,005 deaths.
As Covid infection rates surged again across Europe, Boris Johnsonspoke this week of âstorm clouds gatheringâ over parts of the continent and said it was unclear when or how badly the latest wave would âwash up on our shoresâ.
The situation in some EU member states, particularly those with low vaccination rates, is indeed dramatic. In central and eastern Europe in particular, but also Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, case numbers are rocketing.
But missing from the prime ministerâs remarks, and from much of the media coverage of them, was the fact that Britainâs rolling seven-day average of daily new coronavirus cases is still higher than the average of the EU27, and has been since June.
According to figures from OurWorldInData, the EUâs average has quadrupled in recent weeks, from just over 110 daily new cases per million people on 1 October to 446 on Thursday.
The UK began that same period with a daily infection rate of 505 per million people, nearly five times the EU27 average. After peaking at nearly 700 in late October the rate fell to 495 on 10 November, but for the past week it has been climbing sharply again.
As usual, BJ talks the talk and does nothing.
Several FMs still believe that BJ has made a success of the âfightâ against COVID-19 but, obviously he hasnât since our figures are some of the worst in Europe.
According to Worldometers data the UK has conducted more covid19 tests than Germany, France and Spain combined so we are likely to have more confirmed cases. As I have said in another thread many of those confirmed cases probably didnât realise they had covid.
Iâm keeping my fingers crossed that BJ has actually learned the lessons he pontificates about 
