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Austria to relax mandatory mask rules in coronavirus fight

Austria announced on Friday that wearing face masks will no longer be mandatory in shops from mid-June as the country enters a fresh coronavirus phase of "fewer rules, more self-responsibility."

Published: 30 May 2020 10:25 CEST

Austria to relax mandatory mask rules in coronavirus fight

A visitor wearing a face mask pays for his cashless cinema ticket with a smart watch at the Admiral cinema in Vienna on May 29, 2020. ALEX HALADA / AFP

Covering the mouth and nose will only be mandatory in public transport, health facilities including pharmacies and in places where social distancing rules are hard to keep, such as hairdressers, said Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

“We are on a good path in Austria,… so we can begin the next phase –fewer rules, more self-responsibility,” he said.

However, he warned that while numbers of new infections had subsided, they could shoot up again quickly, urging citizens to use “common sense” to avoid posing a risk to others.

The relaxation of mask-wearing rules will take effect on June 15, when restaurants will also be allowed to stay open until 1 am.

When restaurants and cafes initially reopened earlier this month, they had to close at 11 pm. The current limit of four adults per table will also be abolished.

On Monday neighbouring Slovenia will also drop the requirement to wear a face mask, but continues to recommend their use in situations where social distancing isn't possible.

All hotels in Slovenia will be allowed to reopen on Monday, as well as fitness clubs and swimming pools. Public gatherings of up to 200 people will also be allowed from next week, while all students except for those in secondary schools will be able to return.

The country of two million people has reported 1,473 cases and 108 deaths as of Friday — no change on the previous day.

Meanwhile Austria — with a population of nearly nine million — on Friday had a rare day with no new COVID-19-related deaths reported. It has a total of 668 deaths out of 16,571 cases.

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Patients in Vienna face long waits for specialist health appointments

Accessing essential healthcare within a reasonable timeframe is becoming increasingly difficult for Viennese residents.

The Vienna Medical Association presented their new study this week which shows that waiting times for appointments with health specialists have increased significantly in recent years.

The study, which involved contacting over 850 doctors’ practices via so-called “mystery calls,” revealed that child and adolescent psychiatry currently had the longest waiting times in the city.

Patients can expect to wait an average of 90 days for an appointment.

Other specialisations where patients have to wait long to receive help include radiology (57 days), neurology (45 days), ophthalmology (44 days), pulmonology (36 days), internal medicine (33 days), and dermatology (28 days).

The waiting time for seeing a gynaecologist has increased fourfold since 2012, with patients now waiting an average of 32 days.

READ MORE: Why are there fewer public sector doctors in Austria?

No new patients accepted

In certain specialist areas, there is no capacity to accommodate new patients. The situation where no new patients are accepted occurs particularly often in paediatric practices, where more than half of the public healthcare practices have put a freeze on admissions.

In child and adolescent psychiatry, 40 percent do not accept new patients, and among gynaecologists, it is almost a third (30 percent). Family doctors also struggle with welcoming new patients, and many of their practices have already reached full capacity.

The Medical Association calls for immediate action, urging the health insurance sector to become more attractive and receive better funding. This could involve measures to incentivise doctors to work within the public system, potentially reducing wait times and improving patient access to care.

During the study presentation, Johannes Steinhart, president of the association, described the increased waiting times as the result of neglect within the established health insurance sector. He said he believes that the public health system is massively endangered.

Naghme Kamaleyan-Schmied, chairwoman of the Curia of the resident doctors in the association, pointed out that while the population of the federal capital has grown by 16 percent since 2012, the number of public doctors has fallen by 12 percent in the same period.

The association now wants to make the public healthcare system more attractive to doctors, which could cut down waiting times and make it easier for patients to receive care. The association’s demands for this to happen include increasing flexibility in contract options, integrating health and social professions in individual practices, reducing bureaucracy, and improving fees.

ÖGK, Österreichische Gesundheitskasse, Austria’s largest public healthcare fund, is currently creating 100 additional public health positions, with almost two-thirds of the positions already having applicants, as well as planning for another 100 positions. They also aim to create a central telemedicine service and a platform for making appointments by phone and online, which is meant to reduce waiting times and improve access to care.

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