coronaviruses
On Saturday, the relaxation of the corona protection measures announced by the federal government will also come into force in Upper Austria. And that despite the continued high number of infections. For experts epidemiologically the wrong way.
After a peak on Wednesday, slightly fewer new infections were reported in Upper Austria on Thursday. Nevertheless, the value is persistently high and, above all, higher than forecast for Upper Austria. 4,924 people have had a positive corona test result since Wednesday morning. According to the country’s crisis management team, 370 people suffering from Covid-19 were treated in the normal wards of the hospitals on Thursday. That’s ten fewer than yesterday. There are currently 24 patients in the intensive care units. There are currently more than 38,000 actively verifiable cases throughout Upper Austria, and more than 48,000 people are in quarantine.
incidence does not decrease
Just a week ago, simulation researcher Niki Popper predicted a fall in the seven-day incidence in his forecast for Upper Austria. It should therefore drop to 1,500 by mid-March. Compared to last week, however, it has increased and is now an average of 2,321 nine infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past seven days. The front runner and outlier is the Freistadt district, which has a seven-day incidence of 3,175.
Infection numbers “worrying”
Regardless of the high number of cases, almost all corona protection measures in Austria should fall from Saturday. In view of the high number of infections, the situation is “a bit worrying” for epidemiologist Gerald Gartlehner, as experts would have expected the numbers to go down significantly further in March. Numerous scientists see the openings from March 5th as too early. “Opening everything up on Saturday is exactly the opposite of what you would do epidemiologically with such a high number of infections,” said the expert in the “Ö1-Morgenjournal”.
There will not be an acute overload in the hospitals, but the high incidence of infection in the population will mean that medical staff will also be absent. In combination with the increasing number of hospitals, this “can lead to supply bottlenecks”. With the exception of the vulnerable area, essential shops and public transport, the applicable mask requirement will be abolished from Saturday. Inside, “it would be important that it stays,” said Gartlehner.
Mückstein before resigning
On Thursday there were increasing indications that Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) would resign. He is to be succeeded by the Vorarlberg State Councilor for the Environment, Johannes Rauch (Greens). Mückstein announced a “personal statement” for 3:30 p.m. According to media reports, the reason for his resignation is that he was “very unhappy” about the turquoise-green decisions of the past few weeks in connection with the Corona crisis. Above all, he did not want to support the complete opening on March 5th.