Museums and other cultural venues in Austria will be closed to the public from Monday, November 22, as the country becomes the first in Europe to go back into full lockdown amid a surge in Covid cases.
MuseumsQuartier - PHOTO wien.ORF.at
Financial aid for the culture sector, including non-profits and artists, will be extended and increased, Andrea Mayer, State Secretary for Art and Culture, told the media on Friday, calling the potential impact of the lockdown on the country’s culture sector “another setback that cannot be glossed over.”
Funding for non-profits will receive an additional €125 million ($140.9 million) and be extended to the first quarter of 2022. Financial aid for artists under Austria’s social insurance scheme has also been extended to the first quarter of next year at least, with the total fund raised to €170 million ($192 million). And each applicant will be able to request up to €1,000 during the lockdown months.
Natural History Museum Vienna
The national lockdown is expected to last for “a maximum of 20 days,” said the Austrian chancellor Alexander Schallenberg at a press conference. The decision comes just days after the country imposed a lockdown on unvaccinated residents. The country is currently experiencing one of the highest infection rates on the continent, recording 15,145 new cases on Friday. The latest data showed a seven-day incidence of 990 cases per 100,000 people, the BBC reported.
“This is not easy for us, but in view of the number of infections, we have to take such measures… It hurts me to impose any restrictions,” Schallenberg said. “We don’t want a fifth wave.”
VIA NewsArt
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