Austria enters fourth lockdown as COVID cases soar anew in Europe

Pedestrians walk at the city centre during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, as Austria's government imposed a general lockdown from Monday, in Salzburg, Austria, November 22, 2021. REUTERS/Lukas Barth

VIENNA/BERLIN (Reuters) - Austria entered its fourth national lockdown on Monday after tens of thousands of people, many of them far-right supporters, protested in Vienna against renewed curbs on movement as Europe again becomes the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Austrian government also announced it would make it compulsory to get vaccinated as of Feb. 1 in a country where many are deeply sceptical about inoculations, a view encouraged by the far-right Freedom Party, the third biggest in parliament.