About two million people who have not been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 were placed in lockdown in Austria as the country faces a surge in cases.
“We are not taking this step lightly, but unfortunately it is necessary,” Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said.
Unvaccinated people will only be permitted to leave home for limited reasons, like working or buying food.
The lockdown introduced in Austria on Monday which comes amidst growing pressure on the nation’s hospitals, will initially last for 10 days.
Children under the age of 12 and people who have recently recovered from the virus will be exempt from the lockdown.
Over the weekend, hundreds of people protested outside the chancellery in the capital, Vienna, waving banners that read: “Our bodies, our freedom to decide.”
One female protester said she was demonstrating “to fight for my rights”. “It is totally discriminatory what is happening here,” she said.
Unvaccinated people were already barred from visiting restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas, but will now be expected to stay at home.
“In reality we have told one third of the population: you will not leave your [home] apart from for certain reasons,” Mr Schallenberg said. “That is a massive reduction in contacts between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.”
The government says police will carry out spot checks in public spaces to determine the vaccination status of individuals, and issue fines to those caught breaking the rules.
Some other countries are also introducing measures applying only to the unvaccinated. In Australia, the state of Queensland will bar unvaccinated people from restaurants, pubs and sports events from 17 December.
And Singapore has said that those who remain unvaccinated by choice will have to pay for their own medical bills from December.
Sources: BBC, New Times
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