Austrian chancellor considering implementing lockdown for unvaccinated

Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg says he is considering imposing a lockdown on people who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus if case numbers continue to rise, The Associated Press reported. 

In a meeting with state-level leaders on Friday, Schallenberg said the country would limit entrance into businesses to those who are vaccinated if the number of COVID patients in intensive care reaches is 25 percent of the country’s total ICU capacity, which is 500.

Unvaccinated residents would only be allowed to leave their homes for specific reasons if the number of patients in intensive care reaches 600, or one-third of total capacity, the AP added.  

“The pandemic is not yet in the rearview mirror,” Schallenberg said, according to the AP. “We are about to stumble into a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

According to Bloomberg, 220 ICU beds are currently occupied in Austria. The seven-day average of cases this week was 2,869, up from the average of 1,830 as of Oct. 1.

Just over 65 percent of Austrians have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 62 percent are fully vaccinated, Bloomberg notes.

The country lags behind much of western Europe but is far ahead of eastern European countries who have been struggling with infections recently.