VIENNA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Thursday expressed his hope that Austria could reopen trade and tourism with "safe countries" which have kept the pandemic under control.
"Just finished chairing a videoconference with the Prime Ministers of #Australia, #CzechRepublic, #Denmark, #Greece, #Israel, #Norway and #Singapore," tweeted Kurz, "We had a very interesting exchange about our experiences on the reopening of our economies following the #coronavirus lockdowns."
"We also discussed localized containment strategies to halt the spread of #COVID-19 as well as schools, next steps to reopen trade and tourism among safe countries, contact tracing and enhancing scientific cooperation," he added.
Speaking to the press after the videoconference, the chancellor noted that the regional spread of the coronavirus was very different -- some regions are virus-free, others more affected.
Kurz cited the federal states of Carinthia and Salzburg as positive examples in Austria.
"What we definitely have to prevent is a second lockdown. That is why containment and the trapping of the new sources of infection are needed," he said. Enditem
