In particular, the critical increase in the number of people in hospital treatment continued on Sunday. Exactly 1,948 people were in the hospital in the morning because of Covid-19, 291 of them in intensive care units. This means that 145 more people had to be hospitalized within 24 hours; the number of intensive care patients increased by 26. In addition, there were 21 further deaths within 24 hours and thus 1,130 corona victims so far.
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“Within just one week, that’s an increase of 59 percent in hospitalizations and even 67 percent in intensive care beds,” said Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) on Sunday with concern. “The increasing occupancy of the hospitals and the implementation of the measures to reduce the number of infections are therefore a race against time. I appeal to the population not to wait until Tuesday, but to start immediately to reduce the number of contacts significantly. We know: One A third less contact halves the risk of infection, “said Anschober in a broadcast.
All intensive care beds in Dornbirn are occupied
In the Vorarlberg hospitals, the situation partially came to a head. In the city hospital Dornbirn all intensive care beds have been occupied since Sunday, said Mayor Andrea Kaufmann (ÖVP) to the portal “vol.at”. Now an entire floor is to be cleared for Covid-19 patients. The state hospitals will help out if the number of intensive care cases continues to rise.
According to his party’s broadcast, the infected FPÖ chairman Hofer shows “predominantly rather mild symptoms”, and his illness has so far given no cause for concern. Hofer has been in home quarantine since Tuesday because his wife, who works as a geriatric nurse in a nursing home in the Oberwart district, had tested positive. The FPÖ chairman now continues to work from his home office, the FPÖ announced.
Because of the upcoming night exit restrictions and feared Halloween parties, the authorities carried out increased patrols and local controls on Sunday night. The situation was relatively calm, but there were 145 reports in 2,621 controls of bars and events, the Ministry of the Interior announced in a broadcast that afternoon. There were also minor incidents with night owls on the streets. In the meantime, the start of the Christmas market on Rathausplatz in Vienna has been postponed to the beginning of December due to the impending second lockdown. The Linz Christmas markets have been canceled entirely.
Short-time working was modified
The Corona short-time work has meanwhile been modified for the November lockdown. “Nobody has to be fired,” said Chamber of Commerce President Harald Mahrer on Sunday after the agreement with the Federation of Trade Unions (ÖGB), the Chamber of Labor (AK) and the Federation of Industrialists (IV) and Labor Minister Christine Aschbacher (ÖVP). In rare unity, ÖGB boss Wolfgang Katzian and IV general secretary Christoph Neumayer spoke of an “international heart model” from both an employee and employer perspective.
Far-reaching measures to contain the corona virus will apply from Tuesday. The restrictions announced by the government as a “second lockdown” start on November 3rd and last at least until November 30th. Exit restrictions are also planned between 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. During this time you can only leave the living area for certain purposes, but at any time for “physical and mental relaxation”. Gastronomy closes, so does culture, professional sports can take place outdoors without spectators. Commerce remains open, as do kindergartens and lower grades in schools, while upper grades and universities switch to distance learning. Measures such as the exit restrictions had to be approved by the main committee of the National Council late on Sunday afternoon, but this is a formality due to the majority of the ÖVP and the Greens.
Lawyer criticism of regulation
“Tried, but not yet perfect” is the regulation from the point of view of the lawyers’ president Rupert Wolff. This time, the government is showing a more careful approach to restricting fundamental rights and freedoms than in March and it has visibly tried to be more careful with the regulations. But in the important area of curfews, the scope for interpretation is “extremely large” for some exceptions – and again, many problem cases can be expected. The Viennese lawyer Florian Horn exerted even sharper criticism. He considers the regulations on the initial provisions to be illegal as well as those on the party bans in gardens, garages, barns or sheds, as he explained to the APA.
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Internists, however, were concerned. Already the first lockdown in spring 2020 would have led to poor blood sugar and blood pressure values plus weight gain in patients, warned leading representatives of the Federal Association of Austrian Internists (BÖI). Regular physical activity should not be forgotten. In the event of health problems, a doctor should be consulted and postponing preventive examinations could have serious consequences. Klaus Markstaller, President of the intensive medicine specialist society ÖGARI, welcomed the measures to prevent the hospitals from becoming overloaded and the “triad medicine” that would then be necessary.
