COVID-19 - Austria to plunge EVERYONE into full lockdown & makes vaccine mandatory

Coronavirus latest - AUSTRIA will plunge itself into a nationwide lockdown from Monday as Covid cases soar and hospital corridors fill with dead bodies. Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said the lockdown would run for a "maximum of 20 days" and imposed a new vaccine mandate. From February 1 next year, all Austrians will also be required to have both jabs, Schallenberg announced. Those who refuse could face heavy fines. Austria registered a whopping 15,145 new Covid cases on Thursday, smashing last November's peak of 9,586 confirmed cases. Covid rates have been rapidly rising in recent weeks as the country grapples with one of the lowest vaccination rates in western Europe - roughly 66 per cent - and among the highest infection rates with a seven-day average of 990.7 per 100,000 people in the past week. Experts warn the death toll could reach 2,000 by the end of this week, according to Kronen Zeitung. "Despite months of persuasion, we have not succeeded in convincing enough people to get vaccinated," Schallenberg told a press conference on Friday and blamed those refusing to get jabbed for an "attack on the health system". "Whipped up by radical anti-vaxxers, by fake news, too many among us didn't get vaccinated. The results are overcrowded intensive care units and enormous suffering," he added. Continue reading Austria to plunge EVERYONE into full lockdown from Monday as Covid cases soar & ‘bodies stored in hospital corridors’ https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16783239/austria-announced-covid-lockdown/ The Sun newspaper brings you the latest breaking news videos and explainers from the UK and around the world Become a Sun Subscriber and hit the bell to be the first to know Read The Sun: http://www.thesun.co.uk Like The Sun on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesun/ Follow The Sun on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSun Subscribe to The Sun on Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/discover/The_Sun/1633225139 #Covid #Austria #Lockdown