Friday, January 07, 2022
Boosted and symptom-free
Chancellor Nehammer with a positive corona test
Now the head of government has also been hit: After a positive test, Austria’s chancellor will work for the next few days without personal contact with the outside world. So far he has no symptoms. He probably got the infection from a security officer.
The Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has tested positive for the corona virus. As announced by the Federal Chancellery in Vienna, Nehammer has been vaccinated three times and shows no symptoms. The 49-year-old is in home quarantine, is currently conducting his official business from home using video and telephone conferences and will not attend any public appointments with personal contact in the next few days. Nehammer’s wife and children tested negative on Friday. The ÖVP politician said that he was doing well and that there was “nothing to worry about”. All contacts have been informed.
Nehammer appealed to his compatriots to get vaccinated and boosted. That protects “with a high probability of a severe course”. The head of government assumes that he was infected on Wednesday evening by a security officer who tested positive the next day.
At the press conference on Thursday, Nehammer wore an FFP2 mask and was protected by a plexiglass. At the appointment, he announced new measures to combat the pandemic, which is currently rampant in Austria due to the highly contagious Omikron virus variant. In addition, Nehammer had pushed ahead with plans to introduce compulsory vaccinations next month.
Nehammer has been Federal Chancellor since the beginning of December. He succeeded Sebastian Kurz, who withdrew from political life after a corruption affair.