Austria places two million unvaccinated people into harsh lockdown

Austria is placing around two million unvaccinated people in lockdown as Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations surge.

Austria's Interior Minister Karl Nehammer, left, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg and Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein. Picture: Georg Hochmuth/APA/AFP

Austria is placing around two million unvaccinated people in lockdown as Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations surge.

From Monday, unvaccinated people will only be allowed to leave their homes for work, shopping for food or seeing a doctor.

The landlocked country of nine million is the first in Europe to implement the draconian measures specifically targeting those who have not had the vaccine.

Only 65 per cent of Austria’s population is fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in Europe, while its seven-day infection rate is one of the highest at 815 per 100,000 people.

“We are not taking this step lightly but it is necessary,” Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said at a press conference on Sunday.

“It’s our job as the government of Austria to protect the people. Therefore we decided that starting Monday … there will be a lockdown for the unvaccinated.”

Unvaccinated people in Austria were already banned from things such as restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas.

Now an estimated two million people in the worst-hit regions of Upper Austria and Salzburg have been told to stay home.

A demonstrator holds a sign reading ‘against compulsory vaccination’. Picture: Georg Hochmuth/APA/AFP

“In reality we have told one-third of the population, you will not leave your apartment anymore apart from for certain reasons,” Mr Schallenberg said.

“That is a massive reduction in contacts between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.”

The measures will initially last for 10 days. They do not apply to children under 12 or people who have recently recovered from the virus.

Austria joins a growing number of countries implementing measures specifically targeting the unvaccinated.

In Australia, the Northern Territory earlier this month trialled a similar lockdown for the unvaccinated in Darwin, dubbed a “lockout”, after one case of Covid-19 was detected in the Katherine region.

And Singapore last week said that it would no longer cover medical expenses of Covid-19 patients who remain unvaccinated by choice, saying they made up a “sizeable majority” of those in intensive care and “disproportionately contribute to the strain on our healthcare resources”.

Austrian Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein urged everyone to “pull their weight” to beat the virus.

The Austrian government said police will conduct spot checks in public spaces – and that all interactions with police will involve checking people’s vaccination status.

“We don’t live in a police state and are not able – and nor do we want – to control every street corner,” Mr Schallenberg said.

Fines of up to €1450 ($A2270) will apply for breaches.

People take part in an anti-vaccination protest in Vienna. Picture: Georg Hochmuth/APA/AFP

“As of tomorrow, every citizen, every person who lives in Austria must be aware that they can be checked by the police,” Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said.

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party, the third-largest in parliament, has questioned whether the rules are constitutional, saying they will create a group of second-class citizens.

Weekly cases in Austria have risen by 45 per cent to 72,797, while deaths increased 51 per cent to 207.

Austria’s weekly case rate is now the third-highest in Europe behind Slovenia and Croatia.

Other European countries have also seen worrying increases, sparking fears of a new wave of lockdowns heading into winter.

The Netherlands has reimposed a “lockdown-lite” amid surging cases – sparking riots on Friday where protesters were blasted with water cannons – and Germany will consider possible new restrictions this week.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned over the weekend that “storm clouds are gathering”, in the strongest signal yet he could reimpose restrictions, The Sun reported.

“We have got a situation now where there is no question that there is a wave of infection coming across Eastern Europe,” Mr Johnson said.

“We are seeing numbers rise in Germany very steeply.”