Francois Murphy, Paul Carrel

VIENNA/BERLIN – Austria announced Friday that it will reimpose a complete COVID-19 lockdown. Germany, which is adjacent, warned Austria on Friday, threatening to follow its lead, alarming financial markets.

Germany is Europe’s most populous country and has been hit by a fourth wave of infected people, Jens Spahn, the Health Minister, said. Spahn urged citizens to cut down on their social contact, warning that vaccines would not decrease the number of cases.

Austria said it would require the whole population https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?id=tag%3Areuters.com%2C2021%3Anewsml_WDF49L4QV%3A4&search=all%3Ahealth-coronavirus%2FAUSTRIA to be vaccinated as of February.

About two thirds of Austrians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. It is among the lowest rates across western Europe. The continent’s highest number of infections is in Austria, where the average seven-day rate for the disease is 991 per 100,000.

“We have not succeeded to convince enough people to get vaccined,” Alexander Schallenberg, the Chancellor, stated at a news conference. He said that Monday would be the start of the lockdown and that vaccinations will become mandatory on Tuesday.

It hurts to know that these measures must be taken.

Spahn answered a question about whether Germany can prevent an Austrian-style total lockdown.

He said, “We’re in a crisis of national importance,” at a news conference.

European stock markets fell from their record highs while oil prices, government bonds, and the euro plummeted as fears of a COVID-linked lockdown in Germany, and other European countries, loomed over the world economy.

A number of European governments are imposing restrictions as cases increase across Europe. These include a full lockdown in Austria, partial lockdowns in the Netherlands and restraints on unvaccinated people in Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and parts of Germany.

Hungary had 11,289 cases of COVID-19 in new cases last Friday. It is now the country’s highest-ever daily total. Healthcare workers are required to administer booster shots, and all patients will need masks starting on Saturday.

The new measures in Europe may not have the same impact on the economy as last year’s all-out lockdowns, but analysts think they can affect the recovery during the final quarter, particularly if the retailers and hospitality sector are affected.

But, it would be far more dangerous to lock down Germany completely.

Ludovic Colin is a senior portfolio manager for Swiss asset manager Vontobel. “A complete lockdown of Germany would be extremely negative news for the economy recovery.”

He said, “That’s what we saw in August, July of this year, in places of the world that the delta (variant was large), it (COVID-19 came back, and it slows the recovery again.”

CHRISTMAS IS IN QUESTION

Spahn stated that the pressure on German intensive care units had not reached its maximum, and urged people to cut down their contact to break this wave.

“How Christmas turns out, I cannot predict.” He said, “I can only tell it’s upto us.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-region-hardest-hit-by-covid-surge-plans-partial-lockdown-report-2021-11-18 Germany will limit large parts of public life in areas where hospitals are becoming dangerously full of COVID-19 patients to those who have either been vaccinated or have recovered from the illness.

Merkel stated that the federal government will consider requests from regional governments for legislation to allow them to demand this care.

Bild newspaper reported that Saxony was the most affected region by Germany’s fourth-wave. It is now considering closing down theatres, concert halls and football stadiums. Germany’s Eastern state has the lowest rate of immunization.

In Saxony where the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a powerfulhold for many anti-lockdown and vaccine sceptics, has seen a 14-fold increase in daily infection rates in the last month.

Many Austrians also have doubts about vaccinations. This view is supported by far-right Freedom Party (third-biggest party in parliament). On Saturday, it will protest restrictions regarding coronavirus.