Unvaccinated Austrians warned they face new lockdown if they refuse jabs and cases rise

AUSTRIANS refusing to get jabbed are being told they could face another lockdown.

Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said if cases continue to rise, he may be forced to issue anti-vaxxers with a stay-at-home order and ban them from certain venues.

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Schallenberg is in a fight against time to stop ICU wards in the country from being inundated with unvaccinated Austrians.

The newly-appointed Chancellor announced that if Covid-19 patients in ICU reaches 500 - or 25 per cent of the country's total ICU capacity - entry into venues like hotels and restaurants will be limited to those who have had both jabs.

If the number reaches 600 - or one third of total ICU capacity - the government could put in place restrictions that mean unvaccinated Austrians will need to stay at home and only leave the house for specific reasons.

Currently, the number of COVID patients in ICUs stands at 220.

In a press conference on Friday, Schallenberg said: "The pandemic is not yet in the rearview mirror.

"We are about to stumble into a pandemic of the unvaccinated."

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In the past week, Austria has reported 20,408 new cases of the virus, according to health authorities, bringing the 7-day average to 228.5 per 100,000 inhabitants. A week earlier, that figure was at 152.5 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Although Austria's government has encouraged citizens to get vaccinated, the effort has slowed in recent months.

Some 65.4 per cent of the total population has received one dose of the vaccine, and 62.2 per cent are fully vaccinated.

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