Tens of thousands march in Vienna against COVID measures before lockdown

Police officers stand guard as demonstrators gather to protest against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) measures in Vienna, Austria, November 20, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

VIENNA (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of people, many of them far-right supporters, protested in Vienna on Saturday against coronavirus restrictions a day after Austria's government announced a new lockdown and said vaccines would be made compulsory next year.

Whistling, blowing horns and banging drums, crowds streamed into Heroes' Square in front of the Hofburg, the former imperial palace in central Vienna, in the early afternoon, one of several protest locations.