Austria readies its exit strategy as it is set to be the first country in Europe to be released from Covid-19 isolation on April 14

Austria readies its exit strategy as it is set to be the first country in Europe to be released from Covid-19 isolation on April 14.

THE exit plan for Austria’s Coronavirus confinement is already underway. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has decreed that the country will do ahead on its own, without a coordinated decision with the rest of the EU. His strategy intends to combine protection against Covid-19 with the survival of the economy.

The first to reopen on April 14 will be small shops, with surfaces less than 400 square metres, but they will be limited to one customer for every 20 square metres.

On that same date, the use of masks, currently mandatory for purchases in supermarkets, will be extended to public transport and to the reopened shops.

The rest of the establishments will open their doors at the end of the month, but with new restrictions in place. The government continues to recommend that the population stay home as much as possible and avoid contact to reduce the number of new Covid-19 cases.

One of the assets of this commercial opening is that the government has enabled a virtual market to ensure that the businesses that are opening can sell online.

It is a platform to which any company in the country can join and from which it can sell its products. In the first 48 hours of its operation, 600 companies have joined the platform and more than 100,000 customers had made purchases.

As for other services, gyms and hairdressers they will reopen in early May. Hotels and restaurants from mid-May. Large public gatherings and events will continue to be banned at least until July.

To date, Austria registers 12,332 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, most of them in Tyrol (2,786), Niederösterreich (2,043) and Oberösterreich (1,974), in addition to Vienna (1,771).