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VIENNA, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Austria is warning against
non-essential travel to its Alpine province of Tyrol because of
an outbreak of the so-called South African variant of the
coronavirus there, the government said on Monday.
The province, a winter sports hotspot, has so far been
unable to explain how the variant arrived in the Ziller Valley,
long a popular tourist area. Austrian ski lifts have been
allowed to open since Dec. 24 but hotels are closed for all but
business travel and restaurants can only serve take-away meals.
Tyrol's provincial government has been in talks with the
national government over how to deal with the outbreak. So far,
293 cases of the South African variant have been confirmed in
Tyrol and the current number of active cases is estimated to be
at least 140, a government statement said.
"The government is warning against travel to Tyrol in order
to prevent the South African variant from spreading, and the
government asks all citizens to restrict journeys to Tyrol to
those that are absolutely necessary," the statement quoted
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz as saying.
Austria's coronavirus vaccination plan relies heavily on the
AstraZeneca vaccine, though researchers from the University of
Witwatersrand and the University of Oxford have found that it
provides only minimal protection against mild or moderate
infection from the South African variant in young people.
South Africa halted Monday's planned rollout of
AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccinations in response to that
analysis, stoking fears of a much longer cat-and-mouse battle
with the pathogen.
(Reporting by Francois Murphy
Editing by Mark Heinrich)
