As the world continues to battle the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Austria is looking at ways to mitigate the effects, and is considering a second nationwide lockdown.

The recent spike of coronavirus cases in Austria is pressuring Austria to impose another lockdown along with restrictive measures. The country has seen the biggest rise in coronavirus cases in a single weekend – 6,396 new cases bringing the total amount to 82,536.

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz stated that more restrictive measures must be taken, noted that the "ultimate measure is a second lockdown."

He added, "We are experiencing massive, exponential growth. This is an extreme challenge. The situation is very, very serious, even for those who still don't want to believe it."

The country has recently tightened its coronavirus measures, limiting the number of people meeting indoors to six, whereas people outside must not be in bigger groups of 12. Moreover, restaurants cannot accept tables of over 10 people.

Furthermore, when attending train stations, markets and nursing homes, people must wear facemasks. 

Due to the increase in cases, Austria along with Luxembourg and Switzerland was given a code orange by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meaning that the authorities do not advise travellers to visit the mentioned countries.