Austria’s chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that the country will enter a second lockdown from Tuesday for the month of November, to try to tackle an increasing rate of daily COVID-19 infections.

On Saturday, Kurz said that the situation in the country has deteriorated “almost explosively”, and that “dramatic interventions in our social life” are needed, as infections are doubling roughly every three weeks. Health minister Rudolf Anschober said that, at this rate, the capacity of intensive care beds could be reached by mid-November.

Under the new rules, the indoor limit will be lowered from to 6 people from a maximum of two households. Public events will be capped at 1,500 people outdoors and 1,000 indoors. Shops, restaurants, bars and theatres remain open, while office jobs will continue in full “teleworking mode”.

Compulsory schooling and kindergartens will remain open, but upper secondary schools and universities, will have to switch to online classes.

The government will also impose a curfew from 8pm to 6am, during which people may only leave their homes in case of danger, or to cover basic needs.