"That's why we're here.The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. "People want to live," said one of the organizers of the Dutch protests, Joost Eras. In Denmark, around 1,000 demonstrators vented at government plans to reinstate a Covid pass for civil servants.
Over 130 people have been arrested in the Netherlands over three days of unrest sparked by a Covid curfew, and in Brussels on Sunday, officers fired water cannon and tear gas at a protest police said was attended by 35,000. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, especially now that we have the vaccine," he said.Ĭalled to rally by a far-right political party, some protesters wore a yellow star reading "not vaccinated", mimicking the Star of David Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust.Īlongside the "worried" citizens are others who "are becoming radicalized", Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said on Sunday, the same day around 6,000 people protested in the city of Linz.Įlsewhere in Europe - as infections soar and anti-Covid measures get stricter - frustrations have also erupted into demonstrations, with some marred by clashes with police. While many Austrians spent their weekend ahead of the stay-at-home order enjoying mulled wine or finishing shopping, a crowd of 40,000 marched through Vienna decrying "dictatorship."Īndreas Schneider, a 31-year-old from Belgium who works as an economist in the Austrian capital, described the lockdown as a "tragedy". "The government didn't take the warnings of a next wave seriously," he told AFP. Political analyst Thomas Hofer blamed Schallenberg for maintaining "the fiction" of a successfully contained pandemic for too long. Schools will remain open, although parents have been asked to keep their children at home if possible. When that proved ineffective at squelching the latest round of infections, he announced a nationwide lockdown of 20 days, with an evaluation after 10 days. Over the summer, then chancellor Sebastian Kurz had declared the pandemic "over."īut plateauing inoculation rates, record case numbers and a spiraling death toll have forced the government to walk back such bold claims.Īfter taking office in October, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg criticized the "shamefully low" vaccine rate - 66 percent compared to France's 75 percent - and banned the un-jabbed from public spaces. The Alpine nation is also imposing a sweeping vaccine mandate from February 1 - joining the Vatican as the only places in Europe with such a requirement.īattling a resurgent pandemic almost two years since Covid-19 first emerged, several countries on the continent have reintroduced curbs, often choosing to ban unvaccinated people from venues like restaurants and bars.īut not since jabs became widely available has a European Union country had to re-enter a nationwide lockdown.Īustria's decision punctures earlier promises that tough virus restrictions would be a thing of the past. The decision has prompted a fierce backlash, with tens of thousands taking to the streets, some blaming the government for not doing more to avert the latest coronavirus wave crashing into Europe.Īs they wake up Monday morning, Austria's 8.9 million people will not be allowed to leave home except to go to work, shop for essentials and exercise. Ahead of the Christmas holidays, Austria shut its shops, restaurants and festive markets Monday, returning to lockdown in the most dramatic Covid-19 restriction seen in Western Europe for months.
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