Austria will introduce a coronavirus immunity passport to allow businesses to reopen regardless of whether a Europe-wide plan is agreed.
The passport will work in a similar way to the European Union’s proposed “green pass,” showing individuals who have been inoculated against Covid-19, those people who have tested negative for the virus and those who have recently recovered from the disease.
While the EU scheme is proposed to help cross-border travel, Austria’s passport will go further by allowing its use in the domestic economy, allowing Austrians to resume activities such as attending bars and restaurants, events and gyms.
The EU certificate is expected to be launched in June or July, in time for the summer travel season, but this will be dependent on member states agreeing to the plan. Austria plans to launch its scheme next month.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said “we don’t want to wait for implementation at European level”.
Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober, who is overseeing the project, was confident the scheme would not run into any legal hurdles thanks to emergency coronavirus legislation.
Tourism Minister Elisabeth Kostinger said the plan could allow people to visit Austria again, suggesting vaccinations that take place in third countries would also be recognised.
“A user-friendly digital solution that provides information about vaccinations, test results or infection is the key to being able to travel again,” she said.
Non-EU member states Denmark and Sweden are among other European countries to announce a vaccine passport scheme.
The EU-wide certificate has been pushed by tourist hot spots such as Greece and Spain, but the proposal is likely to face resistance from some who argue that those yet to be immunised would be discriminated against.
France said it would be premature to introduce such passes because most EU citizens have not yet been offered shots.
UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said on Friday a “Covid certificate” had been proposed to allow the possible return of spectator sport on June 21.
“We are working through those details,” he told Sky News.
“It won’t be a vaccine passport - the prime minister has made that clear - what we have said though is that in order to prove you have had a vaccine or a successful negative test, we’re looking at ways of facilitating that.
“That is a potential tool that could help the return of the things we love.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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The Gandhi Murder
- 71 - Years since the death of MK Gandhi, also christened India's Father of the Nation
- 34 - Nationalities featured in the film The Gandhi Murder
- 7 - million dollars, the film's budget
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Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
