Austria introduced a movement ban for unvaccinated people: They can only leave their homes for essential activities

The government of Austria has introduced a travel ban for unvaccinated people, which comes into effect at midnight, in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

According to the government decree, unvaccinated citizens over the age of 12 are prohibited from leaving their homes for the next ten days, except for basic activities such as going to work, to the store and for a walk, or for vaccination.

The authorities decided on that move due to the increasing number of deaths as a result of the coronavirus and the possibility of hospital overload.

Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said the government made the decision to "lock up" the unvaccinated because its job is to protect people.

The curfew will affect around two out of 8,9 million Austrians.

It does not apply to children under 12 years of age who cannot be vaccinated for now.

The curfew will last ten days for now, and the Government has asked the police to check whether those present in public places have been vaccinated.

In case of violation of the new regulation, non-vaccinated persons may be fined up to 1.450 euros.

Austria, where about 65 percent of the population is fully immunized, has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Western Europe, and in recent weeks there has been a jump in the number of new infections.