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Coronavirus

Austria Reopens Facilities After 6 Months

BERLIN — Restaurants, theaters, cinemas and sports facilities in Austria reopened Wednesday after more than six months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hotels in the Alpine nation are also allowed to receive guests as normal again, provided they can prove they’ve been vaccinated or tested negative.

Digital or paper proof of one’s health status is required for anyone wanting to visit bars, spas, cinemas and other sites too. Children under 10 are exempt.

Customers are still required to wear masks, respect a 2-meter (6-foot) distancing rule and register their personal details to facilitate contact tracing.

Up to 3,000 people can attend outdoor events with designated seating, or 1,500 people if the event is indoors. Events without seating are limited to 50 people.

Authorities also relaxed the strict rules on private meetings, allowing up to four adults and six children to meet indoors.

Bars must shut and public events need to end by 10 p.m.

To attract foreign visitors, Austria has also eased its quarantine requirements for people arriving from many European countries.

Official figures showed Austria had a rate of 62.2 new weekly cases per 100,000 inhabitants on Tuesday. About one in three Austrians have received a first vaccination for COVID-19.

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