Germany: Austria and Germany have both announced plans to relax coronavirus measures, weeks after pushing for compulsory vaccinations to curb infections.
Although unvaccinated people will still face restrictions, Germans are being promised a “freedom day” on 20 March while most measures will be dropped in Austria on 5 March.
The Omicron variant has not led to a feared surge in hospital admissions.
However, Germany’s chancellor still aims to make vaccinations mandatory
“The pandemic isn’t over,” said Olaf Scholz after a summit with Germany’s 16 states. Legislation on compulsory jabs has been left for parliament to decide but the chancellor said it remained important especially ahead of next autumn and winter.
Austria passed a law earlier this month that made vaccination against Covid-19 mandatory, the first country in Europe to do so.
