The reason for this is the dramatic increase in positive corona cases, especially in these federal states, said the minister on Wednesday after the Council of Ministers. Mückstein did not want to anticipate the conversations themselves, which will take place via video link.
The Minister of Health spoke of a dramatic situation in the two federal states addressed. The seven-day incidence per 100,000 inhabitants in Upper Austria is 1,173.5, in Salzburg 933. “It is clear that we have to act quickly, decisively and comprehensively,” Mückstein appealed to those responsible. The meeting with Haslauer and Stelzer takes place virtually (at 4.30 p.m.) – whether there will be a media-public appointment after the conversation via video telephony was still unclear on Wednesday afternoon and would probably depend on the outcome of the discussions.
In Upper Austria it is important that it is a matter of “a voting date” between their own federal state, Salzburg and the health minister. This video conference had already been fixed on Tuesday, it said on APA request from Governor Stelzer’s office.
“We have to take the situation very seriously,” said Mückstein about the current corona situation in Austria as a whole. “The number of infections is increasing rapidly,” he pointed out that with the 11,398 new infections reported on Wednesday, the five-digit range was reached for the first time. Even with the intensive care beds (the day before, note) the 400 limit had been exceeded, he also mentioned the extremely tense hospital situation.
This video is disabled
Please activate the categories Performance cookies and Functional cookies in your cookie settings to display this element. My cookie settings –
At the same time, Mückstein emphasized that the measures taken – 3G in the workplace and 2G in gastronomy and co. – would already have an effect. It was possible to achieve a tripling of both the first and third vaccinations. It was also possible to “drive” the tests away from the uncertain antigen tests towards the PCR tests: Here a 50:50 division between the two methods has already been achieved throughout Austria. Mückstein thanked all those who have already had the vaccination. “The solution lies before us, that is vaccination.”
When asked whether it would be possible to take further, Austria-wide measures apart from the talks with Upper Austria and Salzburg, Mückstein’s office said on Wednesday that the situation in these two countries was on the agenda.
Lockdown not excluded
When asked about the fact that when he took office he had said that he would also make unpopular decisions and had declared that he would advocate a lockdown as soon as the intensive care units reached their limits, Mückstein said: “We have all learned that you can cannot rule out anything in a pandemic. ” At the same time, he referred to the existing step-by-step plan that is now being implemented. He also appealed to everyone to cooperate in the containment of the pandemic: Contact reduction by around 30 percent is needed – “that’s what the experts tell us”, everyone could help “by washing our hands by keeping our distance” – and by putting on the FFP2 masks or having yourself tested – and above all by vaccinating.
OÖN-TV: Stelzer cannot rule out lockdown
This video is disabled
Please activate the categories Performance cookies and Functional cookies in your cookie settings to display this element. My cookie settings –
Criticism of the “catastrophic corona management of the government” was on Wednesday SPÖ federal manager Christian Deutsch: “The SPÖ has repeatedly appealed to the government to finally ensure that corona management functions with clarity, foresight and predictability. And we have repeated warned against oversleeping the summer and repeating the corona horror year 2020. ” However, the government “ignored all warnings and simply continued its negligent Corona Management by Chaos”. Ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) played a “particularly inglorious role”.
Also for SPÖ health spokesman Philip Kucher, the pandemic is slipping away from the government “once again completely”. “We have at least two problem parties in the pandemic in Austria. The FPÖ, which believes that vitamins are sufficient against the virus on the one hand, and the ÖVP, which declares the pandemic to be over on time before each wave and then wonders why there is trust in the government is gone. “
Oö. Hospitals: hard lockdown as a last resort
In some Upper Austrian hospitals, however, the situation is getting worse. Operations that can be planned have to be postponed, and there is a risk of triage and compromises in acute medicine. If the measures currently taken politically do not help, Erwin Windischbauer, managing director of the badly affected KH Braunau, would “only have a hard lockdown”. A maximum of 333 intensive care beds can be operated in the Upper Austrian hospitals. 103 places are currently reserved for Covid-19 sufferers, 86 were occupied as of Wednesday morning. 147 intensive care beds are there for patients with other diseases. In the St. Josef Braunau Hospital, six Covid patients have been cared for in the intensive care unit for weeks. “We no longer have any additional intensive care beds available for Covid patients,” explained Managing Director Erwin Windischbauer when asked by APA. No breakthrough vaccinations were treated in the intensive care unit this week.
Operations that can be planned must be postponed. “We have already reduced the operating room capacity by a third and will have to reduce it by half next week,” said the managing director. There is no longer sufficient staff. Windischbauer speaks of sick leave and quarantine-related absences, which in some areas are four times as high as the long-term average. 41 employees are currently suffering from Covid-19. “In addition, we have many vacancies.”
The staff give their best to care for the patients, “but the overload can no longer be handled in the long term,” said Windischbauer. Acute cases could still be treated as usual, but triage could become an issue for intensive care patients. If none of the measures help, Windischbauer will think of “just a hard lockdown”.
The medical director of the Salzkammergut Clinic and part of the Upper Austria drew a similarly gloomy picture. Krisenstabs, Tilman Königswieser, for the three locations Bad Ischl, Gmunden and Vöcklabruck on Wednesday in the “Standard”. If you include the beds that have to be kept free for acute cases such as heart operations or accidents, around half of the 28 intensive care places are currently occupied by corona infected people.
–
