The corona situation in Austria has worsened considerably in the last few days, while Croatia, one of the most popular vacation destinations for Austrians, has seen a decline in the 7-day index. Thus, if the numbers are considered, a stay in Austria’s capital Vienna regarding an infection with the corona virus is clearly more probable than a visit to Istria with a 7-day incidence of 5.3 on the 28th day of the week. 9.2020. An Austrian vacationer in Croatia, who is currently still staying on the Adriatic Sea, put it slightly pointedly: “Actually, our government should encourage citizens who are willing to travel to Croatia, because it is safer there than at home”.
Austrians encourage to travel to Croatia
But this is not the case. Travel returnees from Croatia are still at risk of quarantine or an expensive COVID 19 test. And instead of loosening, the measures are possibly now also again intensified. In the change of the epidemic law was now embodied that Austria citizens can be obligated by regulation to it, before the journey into a risk area to have to register itself over a homepage particularly furnished for it and to present the proof of the registration on request when crossing the border. The data is then additionally transmitted to the local health authority. Read in § 25a, which was newly inserted into the Epidemic Law. However, it also seems questionable how this is to be controlled. Controls at the borders would probably lead to long traffic jams again.
Regulation not yet issued
The Austrian government has, so far as clarification is needed, still issued such a regulation, but could decide to do so at any time without further political debate.
SeaHelp editorship inquires at the Austrian Foreign Ministry
Because numerous boat owners are currently waiting for Austria to loosen its reins a little in the face of its own sharp rise in COVID-19 new infections, the SeaHelp editorial team has explicitly asked the Foreign Ministry. The official response from the press office did not sound as if anything would change soon.
Here is the request from the SeaHelp editorial staff:
Many boat owners now have to winterize their yachts. However, since there is still a travel warning for Croatia, they still have to observe the quarantine regulations when returning to Austria.
In view of the increasing number of new corona infections in Austria, is it likely that the travel warning for Croatia will be withdrawn in the foreseeable future, or possibly a partial travel warning analogous to the German regulations?
The answer of the press office of the Austrian Foreign Ministry:
„Zu Kroatien sowie allen anderen Länder findet laufend eine Evaluierung und Adaptierung statt, sodass sich die Sicherheitseinstufungen jederzeit ändern können. Dazu steht das Außenministerium mit dem Gesundheitsministerium sowie mit dem Innenressort und dem Bundeskanzleramt in engem regelmäßigem Austausch.
Decisive for the decision to issue a travel warning for the whole of Croatia were, apart from the rising number of new infections, above all the accumulated corona infection cases of travel returnees from Croatia. A partial travel warning for Croatia was not imposed in agreement with the experts in the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Chancellery, since the mobility flows of the travel returnees refer to the whole country. However, it is difficult to narrow this down to regions. Due to the high rate of corona infection cases in this group, it was necessary to cover as many people as possible”.
Wrong world?
In plain language, this means that Austrian citizens returning to their place of residence from Vienna or Innsbruck do not need to fear any further measures, while those returning home from safe Croatian regions such as Istria are threatened with quarantine and testing. Anyone who wants to can understand that.
Further information:
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