Austria will do a complete lockdown if Covid grows.

Days after Austria imposed a blockade on people who were not vaccinated, Austria announced a complete nationwide blockade of Covid-19 starting Monday. Chancellor Alexander Schoenberg said it would take a maximum of 20 days, and there would be a statutory vaccination requirement from February 1, 2022.

It responds to record cases and has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Western Europe. Many other European countries imposed restrictions as the number of cases rose. "We don't want the fifth wave," Schoenberg said after a meeting with governors of Austria's nine federal states at a holiday resort in the west of the country.

However, too many people have been told not to take the hit because of "too much political power, weak immunization opponents, and fake news," he added. So the steps are still pending.

Recent figures show morbidity of 990.7 cases per 100,000 people in the past week, and Health Minister Wolfgang Mukstein said the blockade was a "last resort." A record 15,809 cases have been reported in the last 24 hours in a population of less than nine million.

As part of the measure, Austrians are encouraged to work from home, shops that are not strictly needed will be closed, and schools will remain open for children with face-to-face teaching. They run until December 12 but will be re-evaluated in 10 days.

This week, neighboring Germany had several record days of infections; Health Minister Jens Spahn spoke of a "national emergency that requires concerted national efforts."

German heads of state and government have agreed to impose restrictions on unvaccinated people in areas with many hospitals. And parliament has backed demands that people show Covid passports on buses and trains and at work.

But now Prime Minister Marcus Söder has gone a step further in Bavaria, which borders Austria, and declared a "de facto blockade of unvaccinated people." Bars and clubs will be closed for three weeks, and all Christmas bazaars have been canceled. With a weekly morbidity rate of more than 1,000 per 100,000 residents, restaurants, hotels, sports, and culture will also be closed.

Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger has announced that a "ban on unvaccinated people" will begin on Monday, and the Czech government has also restricted access to various services. The Netherlands introduced a partial blockade last weekend.