Almost unnoticed by the public, the Austrian federal government does not care about the update of Annex A of the entry regulations. This list includes countries that have low numbers of Covid infections and therefore neither quarantine nor test are required when entering Austria. since

Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) has not made any adjustments for several weeks, even though the situation has improved massively in many countries. The politician originally named a seven-day incidence of 100 per 100.000 inhabitants as the mark. In fact, most European countries were unable to achieve this in January and February 2021. For example, Germany has been significantly lower for a few weeks with around 70. However, Anschober did not make any changes. Only the following countries are still on the “green list” (Appendix A): Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea and the Vatican.

Anschober ignores developments - opposition criticizes

On March 8, 2021, the Austrian Minister of Health issued the last amendment to the entry regulations. This did not result in any easing for areas with low numbers of infections, but tightened the restrictive conditions again. For example, the Balearic Islands, Canaries and Azores as well as Germany have significantly lower seven-day incidences than Austria. However, Anschober leaves it on the “red list” so that - unless one falls under an exception - mandatory testing and quarantine exist. The behavior of the green politician is a clear indication that action is not being taken based on facts, but that travel is to be prevented completely if possible.

The opposition heavily criticizes Rudolf Anschober's behavior. For example, FPÖ party chairman Norbert Hofer says: “The incidences in the different countries are very different and also change quickly. Therefore, Austria must also remain flexible with its regulations. It must be possible to make the regulations more flexible. If the incidence in the area from which a returnee comes is 50 percent below the current incidence in Austria, then the quarantine should be omitted ”. The politician cites Istria as an example, where he claims the seven-day incidence is 37. According to Hofer, there should be “no need to quarantine returnees from this region”.