Just a few hours after he and Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein announced a possible lockdown for unvaccinated people, the new Federal Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg drove to Graz on Saturday: to visit Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer. On Friday he pushed for uniform national rules again. In Styria, new, stricter measures could be decided in the middle of next week.
Schallenberg and Schützenhöfer know each other from a joint trip abroad to Slovenia, where they talked to the foreign minister there about the Krsko nuclear power plant. Now the first visit to the federal states led from Schallenberg to Styria. Schützenhöfer is said to have played a not unimportant role in the background of the government reshuffle two weeks ago, as the Green Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler confirmed in a Puls4 interview just a few days ago.
At the meeting on Saturday, the domestic political events of the past week and in particular the worsening corona situation were in focus. The federal government in particular is “challenged in a massive way,” said Schützenhöfer. “It is important to work together through joint efforts to ensure that the corona situation remains manageable for the next few months. I am very optimistic that Alexander Schallenberg will lead the republic into a good future based on his many years of experience and his professional work ethic and that we can successfully fight the pandemic together. “
On Friday evening, the federal government discussed the corona situation with the governors in a video conference. Thereafter, an expansion of the step-by-step plan was announced to five stages, whereby at the end there are even exit restrictions for unvaccinated people. Schützenhöfer had previously and also in the meeting in favor of nationwide measures such as the introduction of the 2-G rule for night gastronomy and events.
Important summit on Wednesday
The federal states can tighten the rules independently, Vienna has been doing this for months. In Styria, following legal concerns, it has only recently been possible to introduce 2-G rules (access only for vaccinated and convalescent people). Next Wednesday there will be a summit of the state government with doctors, the topic could come on the table.