Corona infection rates are rising sharply across large parts of Europe, and country after country is now introducing strict measures. Among them is Austria, which on Monday goes to the unusual step of imposing a shutdown that only applies to unvaccinated persons.
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Since November 8, only fully vaccinated or people who have undergone covid-19 disease have had access to restaurants, cultural venues, sporting events and other leisure activities in Austria. In the future, the unvaccinated will have to stay at home, unless they have absolutely urgent chores, such as going to work, visiting the doctor or shopping for food. They are also allowed to breathe fresh air.
“I hope such measures will never be relevant here at home.”
Preben Aavitsland, chief physician at FHI
Far fewer vaccinated
Austria is now completely dark red on the EU’s infection map. according to the Austrian Directorate for Health and Food (AGES) In all the country’s districts, more than 400 new cases of infection per 100,000 inhabitants have been registered in the last seven days.
Preben Aavitsland, chief physician at the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), emphasizes that the situation is difficult in Austria.
DOES NOT WANT AUSTRIA MEASURES: FHI chief physician Preben Aavitsland does not want measures à la Austria in Norway. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB
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– The country now has five times as many who are in hospital and four times as many who die of covid-19 as Norway, and the difference is increasing rapidly, he says to Dagbladet.
The superior points out that while Norway has fully vaccinated 87 percent of the adult population, the corresponding figure for Austria is only 74. He notes:
– I hope such measures will never be relevant here at home. I think it is challenging for a society to separate the population by vaccination status in that way.
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Tough start
On Sunday, the proposal for closure that awaited in the Austrian National Assembly passed.
The situation means a tough start for Austria’s new prime minister, Alexander Schallenberg from the Christian Democratic ÖVP. But he is aware that strong lye is needed.
– I do not understand why two thirds should lose their freedom because one third hesitates, he stated earlier this week, according to NTB.
Minister of the Interior Karl Nehammer from Schallenberg’s party announced on Sunday that the authorities will set up a “fine-meshed network” that will ensure that the partial closure is complied with by those to whom it applies, reports Storavisa Kronen newspaper (Krone).
SHORTLY ACCEPTED: Prime Minister Alexander Schallenberg has barely taken office before he has to deal with an explosive increase in infection. Photo: Leonhard Föger / Reuters / NTB
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If the unvaccinated are caught breaking the rules, fines of up to 1450 euros (14,500 kroner) await, according to NTB.
– Must justify properly
Njål Høstmælingen, lawyer and human rights expert, recalls that the European countries have so far generally had quite far-reaching interventions, without this leading to major conflicts with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
– As long as they justify new measures well, they have a fairly broad authority to decide on interventions, linked to the infection situation. But they must also show how they have assessed it, says Høstmælingen to Dagbladet.
He emphasizes that the medical and human rights aspects go hand in hand in such a situation.
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– One must justify it medically correctly and make sure that the social consequences are not too great. This is actually what the doctors do when they consider whether the borders should be closed, the lawyer says and continues:
– If the Austrians have done the job, they have taken care not to act as hastily as in the first part of the pandemic, as the authorities in the various countries were not as good at balancing the considerations and sharing the assessments with the press.
– Must be proportional
The autumn survey, which also has FHI as its employer, emphasizes that a proportionality assessment must be the basis for new measures.
– VERY FAR AHEAD: Human rights expert Njål Høstmælingen believes that similar measures as in Austria are “very far ahead” for Norway. Photo: Norwegian Center for Human Rights, UiO
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– The authorities must assess how intrusive the measure is, and what is achieved with it. Secondly, they must try to find the least intrusive measures, if there are alternatives, he says and gives examples:
– Absolute curfew for everyone, or consider that certain groups are not affected – such as the sick or people in key roles. They can differentiate according to times of the day, divide people into cohorts, open for home delivery of goods, etc. There are an awful lot of assessments, and I would think that Austria, which is well screwed together as a state governed by the rule of law, has considered this carefully.
He elaborates:
– As in other democracies, they are dependent on the population having confidence in their exercise of authority, and thus they must ensure that good choices are made and can be verified in public.
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At the same time, the human rights expert emphasizes that the authorities must ensure that the measures do not affect different groups with very different forces.
– One must ensure that the specific measures are not discriminatory. In Norway, we had a discussion where religious communities felt they were hit much harder than the cultural and business life, especially in the first phase. Furthermore, many would react if the measures were only implemented in places with a large immigrant population – then the justification should be very solid.
Compares with Tromsø
The human rights expert agrees that a curfew similar to what is now being introduced in Austria from the outside seems very “un-Norwegian”.
– It sounds very dramatic, but it is a bit the same as with the corona pass Tromsø will now introduce – but there it will work in some individual areas, he says, and continues:
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– It is easier to accept a corona passport scheme for benefits you can be without, such as going to a pub or cinema. But a requirement to show the passport to go for a walk in the park is very far ahead.
The autumn survey emphasizes that the Norwegian population generally seems to have very high confidence in the authorities’ decisions on measures.
– But there are exceptions, such as the cabin ban and when municipalities and counties had their own regulation of entry from other regions. This is unfamiliar to everyone, and it takes time before you can put together measures that work, and which at the same time balance conflicting considerations in a good way.
He emphasizes that Norway has a much greater element of local self-government than many other countries when it comes to infection control measures.
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– But both the municipalities and the state must act in accordance with human rights. Everyone is acting on behalf of Norway, the nation. It is not the case that Austria is hit harder because it is the central authorities that have decided on the new measures.
Doubts about the effect
In Austria, opinions are, as expected, divided on the partial closure. according to Krone expresses a number of professionals that they doubt that the measure will significantly reduce the spread of infection.
An internal memo in the so-called traffic light commission to which the newspaper has had access, even assumes that the stricter measures will have a «barely noticeable effect», and in addition be difficult to enforce.
According to the memo, the spokeswoman for the professionals from the state of Tyrol is critical that the “limit” for the measures has been set at 2G (ie fully vaccinated and those who have undergone covid-19), and believes this is too much wasted time. She calls the closure unvaccinated “unreasonable”, and is followed by the spokeswoman for Austria’s university hospital, who believes the measure will only have a small effect.
HAS SEVERAL MEASURES IN THE SLEEVE: Minister of Health Wolfgang Mückstein is ready with further measures, if the partial closure does not give sufficient results. Photo: Georg Hochmuth / APA / AFP / NTB
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In the opposite direction, among others, the spokesman for the Federal Chancellor’s office pulls. He believes that stricter measures for vaccinated people may work against their purpose, as he thinks that people will then drop a possible third dose.
However, the health authorities agree that it is more important to get more people in the population to take the second dose rather than giving priority to giving a third.
The government is also aware that they are ready to tighten further if the new measures do not have the desired effect. According to Krone, Minister of Health Wolfgang Mückstein (The Greens) has stated that should the “dynamics” in the infection figures not change, stricter rules are needed.
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