Fourth week under third Lock-Down in Austria (24.1.)

We’re still in Lock-Down since Christmas and the actual Lock-Down has been extended at least till 8th February. The number of daily new infections is stable at under 2000. This is way too much but is not decreasing. So we keep lock-down for weeks and weeks now.

Mask Upgrade FFP2

Starting January 25th, it is mandatory to wear a FFP2 mask in stores and public transport. An FFP2 mask provides a better filtration effect. This shall help to fight the new Corona mutations from Britain and South-Africa which seam to be more infectious.

Remote Monitoring for Covid-19 patients

A corona infection can turn into a sever problem very quickly. However, it not feasible to keep every positive tested patient at the hospital. The Medical University of Innsbruck is remote monitoring Covid-19 patients using skin sensors and apps. The sensors keep track of temperature, O² saturation, breathing and pulse. This system was already in use for patients with heart problems and was now adapted for Corona. Therefore, patients can stay at home as long as possible but if the situation becomes critical the medical staff gets informed.

Vaccines: Mayors push themselves forward

Austria started to vaccinate people. Because only a very limited amount of vaccines are available. Approximately 1/3 of all Corona deaths in Austria were at retirement homes. Therefore, the governments plan states that high-risk people 80+ in retirement homes shall be vaccinated first. However, many mayors found a way to get a shot although they are not old or high-risk. In many cases the mayors are also the head of the retirement homes in their city. Many argue they have been on site “by accident” and didn’t want to let the vaccine go to waste.

Corona Map Paused

Since Summer 2020 the Austrian government is maintaining a traffic-light color encoded map to visualize the Covid-19 situations in parts auf Austria. Green stands for low risk, yellow medium risk and red high risk. A committee is evaluating the situation every Thursday and presents the new map in Friday. However, since the beginning of the second wave in later autumn 2020 the map is deep red for all parts of Austria. Because the number of infections per day remains at a very high level for weeks, it was decided to pause the map.