Austria on Monday began a targeted lockdown against unvaccinated people, confining adults and minors ages 12 and older to their homes.
The move, which is aimed at calming the worst surge in infections the country has faced since the pandemic started, is believed to be one of the first national lockdowns directed at the unvaccinated, and is initially expected to last 10 days.
“We do not take this step lightly,” Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said at a news conference on Sunday.
Starting Monday, those who cannot prove that they are either fully vaccinated or immune from a past infection can only leave their dwellings for essential reasons, such as going to the doctor or for essential grocery shopping. Officials warned that they would increase police patrols to enforce the rules, and that those found to be violating them could be fined up to 1,450 euros, or $1,660, The Associated Press reported.
Karl Nehammer, the country’s interior minister, announced wide-ranging police measures, such as checking vaccination records, and laid out some of the fines people would face if caught breaking the rules.
Austria is currently averaging 10,395 cases a day, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Less than 65 percent of the country is fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in the European Union.
The new lockdown, which comes a week after an announcement that most businesses were required to check customers for proof of vaccination or immunity, essentially aims to keep the estimated two million unvaccinated Austrians off the streets as cases are surging.
Outside the chancellery in Vienna on Sunday, where Mr. Schallenberg, his interior and health minister were announcing the new restrictions, a crowd gathered to protest them.
Several lawmakers had called for a general lockdown to bring down the numbers, but the country’s health minister pointed out on Sunday that while the overall infections were going up, the infections among the immunized were actually decreasing.
