The meal of Chancellor Kurz, President and Foreign Minister on Monday was a case for vaccinated only. The government is toying with the New York model.
Day one in New York. Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (VP) has arrived in the Big Apple. It went to the USA on Monday morning with an AUA machine that will be retired at the end of the month. The trip with Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg began briefly. In the evening, the two of them had a joint dinner with Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen (he arrived on Sunday, visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum on Monday). For the first time since 2018, the head of government and head of state are together in the Big Apple. The place for dinner is almost mandatory: the “Schilling” restaurant in downtown Manhattan. It is run by the Austrian Edi Fraunender, who also required the top politicians to provide proof of vaccination.
Dinner for 1G
At Frauneder, Kurz was particularly interested in this new New York 1G model. As reported, the Chancellor is toying with wanting to keep certain freedoms (gastronomy, events) open, at least for those who have been vaccinated. “I’m all American there,” joked Kurz. Background: In the USA, vaccination coverage of 80 percent is the benchmark. Then everyone should do what they want. The only difference: In NY, in addition to vaccination, indoor masking is mandatory in many places. The Austrian government relies on voluntariness here. The fact that the number of infections in Austria has been falling slightly for days was confirmed by the Chancellor in his line: “The pandemic is running in waves, that was always clear to me.”
Corona-Talk mit Biden
Corona is also on Tuesday. Sebastian Kurz takes part in the opening of the 76th UN General Assembly together with VdB and Foreign Minister Schallenberg. Around half of the 176 member states are not physically present at the United Nations due to the corona pandemic, which is still rampant. You will have the opportunity to play a pre-recorded video statement. Then the highlight on Wednesday: a Corona summit with Joe Biden. The US President jets to New York with Airforce One. The metropolis on the East River is therefore on High Alert, numerous roads are closed. The Grätzl around the UN is strictly guarded.
