Austrian lockdown dampens holiday mood to contain virus

By COLLEEN BARRY
Associated Press

VIENNA (AP) — Austrians savored one last mulled wine in packed Christmas markets before the curtain came down on the holiday season that was just getting underway, plunging the country that gave the world “Silent Night” into its fourth lockdown of this pandemic on Monday.  The capital, Vienna, awoke groggily to the new restrictions, with people heading to work, to bring children to school or to exercise outdoors, more or less as usual.  Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein said the lockdown was necessary not only to bring down the number of new daily infections and reduce pressure on intensive care wards, but most of all to bring relief to doctors and nurses “who cannot take it anymore.”