Coronavirus
The government decided on Wednesday in the Council of Ministers the timetable for the end of all CoV measures – almost exactly three years after the first confirmed cases in Austria. The rules are to be phased out gradually by the summer, and Austria is to return to “normal operation” from June 30th. “The pandemic is going, the virus stays,” said Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens).
Masks are currently still compulsory in vulnerable areas such as hospitals and nursing homes. It should end on April 30th, as will the risk group exemption. All crisis management teams and committees are also to be dissolved. The Ministry of Health plans to end the special regulations on June 30th. SARS-CoV-2 will then no longer be a notifiable disease, and the traffic restrictions that are currently in force for people who have tested positive will also end.
Although infected people no longer have to be quarantined, they are obliged to wear an FFP2 mask indoors and outdoors when in close contact with other people. Even after the end of the reporting obligation, there should be an overview of the course of the pandemic in Austria, the government said.
This is to be achieved through a “mix” of evaluating the wastewater from 48 nationwide sewage treatment plants and the analysis of PCR samples. Wastewater monitoring was expanded in such a way that, according to the Ministry of Health, significantly more than half of the population is covered.
Statement by Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens)
The federal government wants to end all coronavirus crisis measures by the end of June.
Transfer to the regular health system
In order to transfer vaccinations, tests and the dispensing of Covid-19 medication into the regular structures of the health system, talks with the federal states and social security are necessary. Medicines are paid for by health insurance. In the case of vaccinations, the costs should be shared between the federal government, the federal states and health insurance companies. The aim is for vaccination and medication to remain free. The tests should also be available free of charge for people with symptoms as before.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health is working on a fundamental revision of the Epidemic Act. Rauch wants to involve all affected interest groups, which is to take place before the end of this year. The aim is to send a draft law for a new epidemic law for review in this legislative period.
A “pandemic plan” should be available this year. This is intended to show how to deal with the different phases of a pandemic. The aim, said Rauch, was to abandon the modus operandi of pushing through new laws, which was necessary at the time. The COV Measures Act empowered the Minister of Health to impose movement restrictions on the population. The sometimes stricter state measures were only possible on the basis of this law. With the abolition at the end of June, the city of Vienna, for example, is no longer authorized to issue special rules.
