A staff member wearing a face mask is seen at a shop, Vienna, Austria, March 18, 2021. Austria reported 3,357 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest daily count this year. The death toll rose by 26 to 8,982, while 1,814 people are receiving hospital treatment, 386 of them in intensive care, according to the Interior Ministry. (Xinhua/Guo Chen)
VIENNA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Austria reported 3,357 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest daily count this year.
The death toll rose by 26 to 8,982, while 1,814 people are receiving hospital treatment, 386 of them in intensive care, according to the Interior Ministry.
The Alpine country has had a total of 504,581 infections so far, data showed.
A third wave of coronavirus pandemic has already begun, and the intensive care capacities risk reaching their limits like in last autumn, Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober warned earlier this week.
He emphasized that a rapid vaccine rollout will be "decisive" in the fight against the pandemic.
Austria is among a number of European countries that suspended the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after reports of blood clots, pending a decision of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
The EMA would issue a new recommendation on Thursday for the procedure with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he did not expect a negative opinion from the EU regulator, saying this would be "a massive setback."
He told the Austrian broadcaster ORF on Wednesday that Austria would receive by the end of June eight million COVID-19 vaccine doses, enough for everyone who wants to receive it.
But it would be different if the AstraZeneca vaccine was dropped from the vaccination schedule, said the chancellor. Enditem
