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 New daily coronavirus infections are rising, driven by the extremely
contagious Omicron variant. They hit a new record above 30,000 on
Wednesday, Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein told a news
conference, adding that they would peak in the next two weeks at
around 35,000 to 40,000.
The occupancy rate of hospital and intensive-care beds, however, has
been falling.
"We came to the conclusion that the lockdown for unvaccinated people
in Austria is only justifiable in the event of the threat of an
imminent over-burdening of intensive-care capacity," Mueckstein told
a news conference, adding experts no longer saw it as necessary.
Since Nov. 15 those not vaccinated against the coronavirus have been
under lockdown, meaning they are only allowed to leave their homes
for a limited number of reasons such as shopping for essentials or
working. The measure, which was suspended over Christmas, has been
criticised as very difficult to enforce.
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 While that restriction on their movement will be
lifted, the unvaccinated will still be barred
from taking part in a range of leisure
activities including eating in restaurants or
shopping for non-essential items as part of
government efforts to increase the vaccination
rate, which is among the lowest in western
Europe.
(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Andrew
Heavens and Barbara Lewis)
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