Austria has announced plans to reopen nightlife due to the country’s low rate of COVID-19 infections.
Starting on the 1st of July, the country known as the Alpine state will soon allow for businesses to open that operate without a curfew in the catering, hospitality and nightlife sectors which includes things like nightclubs, cafes, bars and restaurants.
Initially, they will only be allowed to operate at 75% capacity due to allowing for some social distancing precautions to remain in place, but the news comes as a great relief to those working in the sectors that until now had been struggling to avoid bankruptcy.
According to Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP), this makes nightlife far less restricted, saying it can be “danced, married, celebrated”, and that he can soon see a full return to normality in the near future.
This is a view shared by Secretary of the Culture Senate, Andrea Mayer of the Greens. According to her, art, culture and sport will soon be able to be experienced again without compromise or restriction. This means no more capacity limits for events and the return of standing room at music gigs. However, for anyone looking to attend a public event of catering facilities, it’s currently still required that people use the vaccine passport system to prove they have been vaccinated or have a negative COVID-19 test result. For children under the age of 12, the test obligation will no longer apply from 1 July.
There will also be a relaxation of wearing face masks. In the catering industry, employees will no longer be required to wear an FFP2 mask from 1 July. In trade and public transport, it will also be sufficient from that date to wear a conventional mouth-nose protection, as the FFP2 mask requirement will be lifted in these areas.
H/T: Faze Mag
