Austria tests easing lockdown with few stores reopening

Bloomberg

Austrians lined up outside hardware and gardening stores that reopened on Tuesday after the country became one of the first in Europe to ease lockdown measures.
The soft and partial restart of the economy — also one of the first to clamp down on public life to halt the spread of the coronavirus — will be eyed by others in Europe as a rehearsal for how to lift restrictions without provoking new infections. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has said he won’t hesitate to reverse course if the numbers were to spike again.
“This is a first step in the direction of opening that’s become possible,” Kurz said. “We want to give as much freedom as possible and as much restriction as necessary. We’re following our schedule, but if the numbers go into the wrong direction again, we’ll use the emergency brake.”
France, Italy and Spain have extended national lockdowns. With more than 50,000 deaths, the three countries are some of the hardest-hit by the pandemic.
In Austria, stores with less than 400 square metres sales area and hardware and gardening shops can reopen on Tuesday — subject to access restrictions that make sure they aren’t so crowded that people can’t keep their distance, which led to queues outside of stores. Face masks are mandatory in all shops as well as in public transport.
If the reopening doesn’t lead to a surge in infections, which have grown less than 3% per day for a week in Austria, malls and all other stores can reopen May 2, followed by schools, restaurants and hotels in mid-May, according to the government’s plan. Events won’t be possible before the end of June.
The costs of the lockdown for the Austrian economy are beginning to crystallise as well. Companies have applied for state wage support for more than 600,000 jobs, and the budget for that was lifted to $5.5 billion.