Nursing homes in Austria are Covid-free

Things are looking up as we are getting closer to normality

There is good news coming from the Austrian nursing homes - they are considered Covid-free as of Tuesday, 29 June 2021. At the same time, however, four kids in Linz have been infected with the more contagious Delta variant.

Covid-free nursing homes are a great sign of recovery

As vaccination rates rise and infection rates drop, Europe is getting ready to reopen. With the Covid passport in place, from 1 July normality returns, as social distancing guidelines are being rolled back, so the news about nursing homes is especially welcomed.

When the pandemic first broke out, the elderly residences were one of the first places to get hit. Given the communal nature of nursing homes, with residents being particularly vulnerable to the virus, making nursing homes Covid-free was considered an essential priority.

According to Austria’s COVID-19 Dashboard and the national broadcasting agency ORF, nursing homes are now reporting zero new infections - neither in residents nor employees.

The Delta Variant is spreading among children

On the other hand, the Delta variant is spreading among the kids in Linz and Linz Land. The number of students who, according to pre-sequencing, have contracted the more contagious mutation of the coronavirus rose to four in Upper Austria on Wednesday.

The first were two students from the Fadinger and Peuerbach grammar school in Linz, then two children from the Hart elementary school in Leonding (Linz-Land district) also tested positive.

A total of 16 cases of the Delta variant have been documented in Upper Austria. The classmates of those students who are infected have been quarantined and are attending classes online.