Police officers stand guard as people gather to protest against COVID-19 measures, vaccination and government following the increasing number of cases in recent days in front of the St. Charles Church in Vienna, Austria. ( FILE PHOTO - Anadolu Agency )
VIENNA
Around 50,000 Austrians took to the streets on Saturday to protest a national lockdown to be implemented as of Monday due to surges in coronavirus cases in the country.
Far-right groups also took part in the protests, raising the tension with the police.
Austrian police said that a total of 10 people were arrested during the protests.
According to the US-based Johns Hopkins University on Saturday, the country confirmed over 1 million cases and more than 11,990 deaths from the virus.
Austria’s Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said at a news conference on Friday that the lockdown would last for a maximum of 20 days.
Schallenberg also announced that the country will make vaccination compulsory as of Feb. 1, 2022.
The move came days after Austria announced that it will impose a curfew on those who are not fully vaccinated.
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