Austria will lift the lockdown for all those not fully vaccinated while Denmark is lifting all remaining coronavirus restrictions from next week.
Restrictions will be lifted in Austria as hospital admission rates have now begun to ease, lessened the burden on the health system, the country’s health minister said.
The country’s Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein told a news conference on Wednesday: “We came to the conclusion that the lockdown for unvaccinated people in Austria is only justifiable in the event of the threat of an imminent over-burdening of intensive-care capacity.”
Those who are not fully vaccinated will now be able to leave their homes but will face restrictions on public life.
The restrictions for unvaccinated Austrians were introduced last November and meant they could only leave their homes for work or to buy food.
While restrictions for the unvaccinated will be lifted next week, case levels have increased in the country.
Figures from Our World in Data show Austria recording 2,758 daily cases per million people on January 25, an increase from 235 cases per million on December 26.
In Denmark, the government announced the end to restrictions which closed nightclubs and required the use of vaccine passports.
The decision will also mean the end of the obligation to wear facemasks in many public spaces.
MPs made the announcement as the pandemic was nearing an end to the socially critical phase.
In a letter to parliament, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke, said the government intends to follow recommendations set out by the scientific panel, and end all restrictions on February 1.
If approved, the only rules remaining in the country will concern test and isolation when entering the country.
Denmark registered 46,590 cases on Tuesday, below the 47,831 on Friday.
The expert advisory panel said in a report dated January 21: “There has been a decoupling between the trend that was applicable earlier in the epidemic, between increasing infection and increase in COVID hospitalisations.”
