Thousands of Stores in Austria are Reopening

Thousands of stores will reopen in Austria, which will become one of the first European countries today to ease the restrictions imposed by the new coronavirus, Reuters reported.

However, the Austrian government warned the citizens of the country that the danger had not yet passed.

Austria took action early on, closing down schools, establishments, theaters and shops that do not sell essentials about four weeks ago. People were urged to stay home and work from home if they could.

So far, Austria has coped relatively well with the epidemic, with 368 deaths from more than 14,000 cases registered, especially in relation to some major European countries such as Italy, Spain and France.

The daily increase in confirmed cases is in low single digits in percentage terms and hospitalizations have stabilized.

"Economically, too, we want to come out of this crisis as quickly as possible and fight for every job in Austria," Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, a conservative governing with the Greens, said in an open letter to the country on Saturday, the eve of Easter Sunday.

Last week, Kurtz outlined a step-by-step plan to reopen parts of the economy, starting with shops of up to 400 square meters as well as all home-improvement and garden centers on Tuesday. shopping malls, larger shops and hair salons will resume work from May 1st; restaurants and hotels may open in the middle of next month. There will be restrictions on the maximum number of people allowed to be in the respective store at the same time, and all customers will need to wear a mask.

On Friday, the World Health Organization warned, without explicitly mentioning Austria, that lifting the restrictions could lead to a deadly new wave of the epidemic, Reuters noted.

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