Shuts down Austria the day before the international match – VG

– Any social contact is one too many, was the gloomy message from Chancellor Sebastian Kurz when he on Saturday announced full shutdown from tomorrow.

The Norwegian football squad, which with one exception consists of players in foreign clubs, traveling from Norway to Vienna to play the Nations League match on Wednesday.

Made to travel to Austria, has been called in after the original national team could not play due to Omar Elabdellaoui being diagnosed with corona infection before the weekend.

They face empty stands in a country in deep corona crisis.

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The football rolls as usual

– There is no controversy about the match, in light of the sharpened corona measures, says sports journalist in the Austrian newspaper Kurier Andreas Heidenreich to VG.

He believes that Austrians like to watch sports on TV during the curfew.

– The matches naturally take place without spectators, but no one argues that professional football should stop. Both the first and second divisions carry out their matches.

Heidenreich states that only one match has been canceled: 15 players at Wolfsberg tested positive after the meeting with Dynamo Zagreb, before the match against Sturm Graz on Sunday …

He says that the national football team has been in a bubble, isolated in a hotel since last Monday.

– I see that Norway comes with a young team, while our players come from the German Bundesliga and should win this match. But anything is possible, says the Kurier journalist.

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Unable to trace the infection

Austria has had 1045 new cases of infection per 100,000 inhabitants the last 14 days. That is almost eight times more than Norway. The corresponding figure for Norway is 140.

With thousands of new infections every day, the nation with 8.8 million inhabitants is among the countries in the world where the spread of infection is highest.

Kurz points out that many say that the infection does not spread in schools or shops.

– But the truth is that the authorities are unable to track 77 percent of the new cases. They no longer know where the spread of infection takes place, the chancellor said.

Introduces harsh measures

The government has concluded that the measures introduced on 3 November have not helped and went out before the weekend with extremely tough measures to shut down the country:

• A curfew around the clock means that everyone must stay at home, except to go to the store at the pharmacy or to church. People can also air the dog.
• Social contact is limited to the same household, partners, family and nursing staff.
• Everyone who can work from home should do so.
• The schools are switching to distance education, but will offer “care” to children who need it.
• Travel to work and school is only allowed if necessary.
• Patients in nursing homes and hospitals are only allowed to have one visitor per week – who must bring evidence of a negative coronary test.
• Mouthpieces should be worn if distance is not maintained.

The new and stricter measures will be introduced on Tuesday and will last until 6 December.

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Goes for mass testing

Austria has also decided to follow neighboring Slovakia and introduce mass testing. Slovakia quickly tested two thirds of the population two weeks ago. One in 100 tested positive.

– We want to use mass testing towards the end of the closure, primarily by teachers to ensure a safe reopening of schools, said Kurz to state broadcaster ORF Sunday.

The Federal Chancellor has been criticized for not going to work tougher earlier this autumn.

Austria escaped relatively easily from the first wave of the pandemic, but the health service is under pressure during the second wave this autumn.

The number of patients receiving intensive care is around 600 – an increase of 30 percent in one week. The country has a total of 2,000 intensive care units.

1829 people have died from the coronavirus in Austria.

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Nearly 700 of the first Norwegian corona cases could be traced back to Austria. On après ski in the Kitzloch bar in Ischgl, Nordic ski tourists contracted the new virus.

Read about VG’s meeting with the innkeeper in the alpine village