Continuing the lockdown towards Easter would, according to the Chamber of Commerce, mean job destruction.
All shops – except grocery stores, drug stores and pharmacies – are officially closed due to Corona until at least February 7th. The remaining trades are now pushing for an unlock from February 8th. However, the actual end of the lockdown depends on the infection situation, so it wobbles. “With test strategies, keeping a distance and FFP2 masks, the way will be paved for opening up,” said Margarete Gumprecht, the trade representative of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce.
Prepared
“The Viennese trade is safe, we are prepared and want to open the gates again for our customers on February 8th,” affirmed the branch spokeswoman in a broadcast on Friday. It is also about “business survival”. Around 27,000 companies are currently closed in Vienna.
“The upcoming opening is an important step to secure the liquidity of our entrepreneurs and to avert unemployment”, emphasized Gumprecht. Many companies are now facing major financial challenges. “Every week lockdown costs the Viennese entrepreneurs between 150 and 200 million”, said the Viennese trade chairwoman. “The January wages are due and many have problems paying them.”
“The lockdown opening plan must not be shaken – a first step-by-step opening must be initiated on February 8th, because the companies have now finally reached their liquidity pain limit,” affirmed the Styrian Chamber of Commerce President Josef Herk and the local trade chairman Gerhard Wohlmuth in an appeal to the government. The “preparations for a safe unlocking” were in full swing in the companies.
Slow start up
February 8th must be recorded as the “start date of a gradual restart of the economy”. Each additional week of lockdown would cost the Austrian economy 1.1 billion euros. “Continuing towards Easter would be tantamount to destroying jobs,” warned Herk.
The mayor of Wels also made the current situation clear on Friday. “The almost complete lockdown since the beginning of November puts the trade and service providers in Wels in an increasingly desperate position – on the one hand, there is no possibility of making sales due to the closure, on the other hand, some of the promised aid has not been paid out since November – or it is not enough to cover the loss of income “, said Andreas Rabl in a broadcast.
According to the city politician, an important first step would be to open all shops up to 300 square meters – which are mostly owner-managed anyway. The retail sector in particular would benefit from this, especially in the areas of fashion, shoes and jewelry. “It would then be possible for these businesses to create the urgently needed liquidity through a sale in February.” The currently available security concepts are completely sufficient for this and also work for the large food chains.
Dramatic effects
Many retailers were already considering whether to continue or close their stores. “That would have dramatic effects on all cities, since the town centers would then give the impression of ghost towns,” fears the mayor of Wels.
“In the opening debate, foolishness is currently triumphing,” stated Rabl. Especially in the small, owner-managed shops, there are never more than one or two customers present at the same time. “At the moment, customers are waiting in the rain in front of the entrance to the shops and sales are being made in the alley.” At the same time, crowds of customers crowded the large grocery chains. “That is unreasonable and incomprehensible,” criticized the mayor.
“We now have to save what can still be saved and we will only be able to do that with an end to the lockdown on February 8th – now every day counts”, said FPÖ General Secretary Michael Schnedlitz in a broadcast. The turquoise-green government has to finance and promote the necessary measures in the companies, “at the end of the lockdown that would be the best help for everyone”. He again called for all businesses and schools to be opened. “We expect solutions, guidelines and transparency, but what we get is exactly the opposite,” the opposition politician told the government.
