And it’s official: @sebastiankurz just announced Austria will be the first EU country to begin easing #covid19 lockdown and restart the economy

Small shops open with restrictions on April 14; by May 1, all shops open. https://twitter.com/juliaoftoronto/status/1246379262367670272

Even on May 1, there will still be restrictions on shops — limits on numbers of people in, masks etc.

And government says they don’t yet know the end game for restaurants and hotels. They’ll announce a decision before end of April.

People are still not allowed to go out unless it’s for shopping, work, healthcare or sports. No public events will happen before end of June. Border controls still in place.

And when people go out in Austria, masks for supermarkets and public transit.

So it’s a big step in a return to post #covid19 normalcy but by no means the full resumption of social and economic life.

How did Austria manage this? With Italy at the border, they locked down sooner than most— with restrictions starting 4 weeks ago. In this period, they managed to get from cases doubling every other day to cases doubling every 20 days.