VIENNA: Austria is implementing a lockdown for unvaccinated people in two hard-hit regions next week and looks poised to move forward with similar measures nationwide, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said Friday.
Starting Monday, unvaccinated people in the regions of Upper Austria and Salzburg will only be allowed to leave home for specific necessary reasons, such as buying groceries or going to the doctor.
Schallenberg said he and regional leaders will meet again on Sunday and plan to give approval for implementing those measures across the country.
At a separate press conference Friday, Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein said the government will introduce a vaccine requirement for people working in the healthcare industry.
He did not specify when the new requirements will take effect.
Austria has faced a worrying trend in infections in recent weeks.
The country reported 11,798 new cases on Friday, up from 9,388 a week ago.
The 7-day infection rate stands at 760.6 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants, up from 528.8 a week ago and 316.4 two weeks ago.
Schallenberg and Mueckstein said stricter measures are necessary to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.
Currently, 437 people are being treated for the coronavirus in intensive care units.
Previously, the government had planned to implement lockdown measures for unvaccinated people when the number of people in ICU beds reached 600.
However, Schallenberg said Friday that the numbers are rising faster than expected and it is "not sensible to wait" until the country officially crosses that threshold.
Last Friday, Schallenberg announced that unvaccinated people would be barred from large parts of public life, including restaurants, hotels, and events of more than 25 people.
Those rules went into effect on Monday.
Austria has one of the lowest vaccination rates in western Europe: 65 per cent of the total population is fully vaccinated, and 67.8 per cent have received at least one dose of vaccine.
Everyone over the age of 18 in Norway will be offered a booster shot of coronavirus vaccine, the country's prime minister said Friday, adding that unvaccinated health care personnel should be tested twice a week and must wear face masks.
"Vaccination is the most important protection we have against coronavirus. The infection will be among us for several years to come, and there is a lot we can do together to prevent the virus from spreading," Jonas Gahr Stoere said.
The move comes amid a surge in coronavirus infections across Europe in recent weeks.
Across Western Europe, a region with relatively high vaccination rates and good health care systems but where lockdown measures are largely a thing of the past, infections are again going up.
Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol said the booster shot "could contribute to better protection against disease and to fewer people passing on the infection."
An unvaccinated person who lives with someone who has tested positive with COVID-19 must be tested "every day with a self-test or every other day with a PCR test for seven days," she added.
"This is not just a recommendation, but a duty," Kjerkol said.
The Norwegian government also made it possible for local authorities to bring in a digital pass locally, if necessary to avoid lockdowns.
Gunnar Wilhelmsen, mayor of the northern city of Tromsoe which has seen a spike in cases, said the pass would be introduced as soon as possible, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported.
Tromsoe, an Arctic city of 77,000, has already recommended the use of face masks, social distancing and working from home.
Official Norwegian figures show that 91.5% of people over the age of 18 have received a first vaccine shot and 87.2 have had both doses.