Coronavirus: Update - Gradual reopening of shops from 14.4.

1. Which businesses are affected?

Entering the customer area of establishments of the retail trade, service providers, as well as leisure and sports facilities for the purpose of purchasing goods, using services, or using leisure and sports facilities is generally prohibited.

• A4 poster: Business closed due to Corona

However, this ban on entry does not apply to the following establishments:

• Public pharmacies
• Food retail (including outlets of food producers) and direct agricultural marketers
• Drugstores and drug store chains
• Sales of medical products and sanitary items, medical equipment and assistive devices
• Health and care services
• Services for people with disabilities provided by the countries under the Disability Support, Social Assistance, Participation or Equal Opportunities Acts
• veterinary services
• Sales of animal feed
• Sales and maintenance of safety and emergency products
• Emergency services
• Agricultural trade, including livestock auctions, as well as the horticultural sector and the sale of Landes products of seeds, feed and fertilizers
• Petrol stations and associated car wash facilities
• Banks
• Post, including Postpartner, as well as postal outlets operated by a municipality insofar as they fall under the exemption of § 2, and telecommunications
• Services related to the administration of justice
• Delivery services
• Public transport
• Tobacco shops and newsstands
• Hygiene and cleaning services
• Waste disposal companies
• Automotive and bicycle workshops
• Building materials, iron and timber trade,
• Building and garden markets
• Lending institutions
• Trade in precious metals

The listed retail businesses and pawnshops are only allowed to be open to customers from 7:40 a.m. to a maximum of 19:00 p.m. However, sales outlets of food producers (e.g. bakeries) are not affected by this time restriction. More restrictive opening hours regulations due to other legislation remain unaffected.

"Garden markets" are understood to mean garden centers, gardening shops, and florists.

As "building materials, iron and timber trade" and "timber markets", such businesses are generally to be considered as members of the branch group for building materials, iron, hardware and timber trade. However, it is also possible that other businesses than building material shops may occasionally be considered as such, e.g. when they are integrated into foreign trade. For the classification, the weight of the product range and the external appearance of the company are essential.

Establishments from other industries are exempt from the entry ban only if they meet the following criteria ("Small Business Exception"):

• The establishment must serve the sale, manufacture, repair or processing of goods;
• the customer area inside the premises must be smaller than 400 m² his; and
• The customer area must be smaller than 400 m by 7 April 2020² It must have been.

Changes in the size of the customer area inside the building that were made after 7 April 2020 must be disregarded when determining the size of the customer area. This means that subsequent barriers (e.g., mobile room dividers, barriers to corridors or storeys) do not allow larger customer areas to be entered.

To the 400 m² the outdoor area is not included (e.g. the sale of motor vehicles or plants outdoors).

Taking into account these conditions, for example, the following smaller businesses may open their customer area:

• Bookshop
• Crafts
• Stonecutters

If several small businesses access a common connecting building (e.g. shopping centers), the above exception for small businesses only applies if the customer area of all businesses is accessible from the same entrance. Overall less than 400 m² is.

Entering business premises of the hospitality industry remains inadvisable until further notice, even if the customer area of the establishment is smaller than 400 m² It should be (Exception: Self-pickup and delivery of pre-ordered food).

Accommodation establishments are not allowed to be entered for the purpose of relaxation and leisure activities. However, certain accommodations remain permissible, such as those for professional reasons or to meet an urgent housing need (details can be found in here ).

The number of businesses that are exempt from closure has been expanded by the new regulation. You can find a list of all the cases where questions have arisen here: New criteria list as a pdf. This is an updated interpretation of the new regulation by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Note for mixed operations:

Some companies offer a wide range of goods and services in their normal operations. Such operations may include both activities permitted under the Covid-19 law and activities that are not permitted.

In the current situation, the WKÖ is making a strong appeal to mixed-activity businesses to apply the regulation in their mixed-activity business in a manner consistent with fair competition. In accordance with the wording of the regulation, therefore, they are to offer only those goods and services that fall within the "field" excluded from the regulation (cf. § 2).

This allows the trade in food products to continue while other parts of a retail business (e.g. the sale of television sets) are closed down. The trade in the latter categories of products should be prevented by appropriate measures (e.g. spatial demarcation measures, labeling).

2. Do special health protection measures have to be observed in establishments that are open to customer traffic at present?

Yes, the following protective measures must be observed:

• Employees with customer contact and customers must wear a mechanical protective device that fully covers the mouth and nose and protects against droplet infection (exception: children under 6 years of age); and
• all persons must maintain a distance of at least one meter from each other.

In those businesses whose customer area is less than 400 m² and that are only allowed to reopen since 10.4.2020 (for the "small business exception" see Question 1, The following additional condition applies:

• Appropriate measures must be taken to ensure that a maximum of customers are present in the customer area simultaneously, so that 20 m are available per customer.² the total sales area is available (exception: if the customer area is less than 20 m in total)² is, customers are allowed to enter them one after another in order).

Special regulations apply in certain sectors, such as the food retail sector and the provision of personal support services (in particular health and care services).

More information: Hygiene regulations in commerce | Information from the Ministry of Social Affairs about mouth and nose protection

3. How long do these restrictions apply?

As things currently stand, the restrictions will remain in effect until April 30, 2020.

Questions about holidays and short-time work regarding the reopening from April 14th.

The WKO has compiled the most important FAQs regarding holidays and short-time work in connection with the reopening on April 14th: https://www.wko.at/service/schrittweise-oeffnung-geschaefte-ab-14-4.html#heading_FAQ_zur_Oeffnung_der_Geschaefte_ab_14_4_2020

Changes planned for the future

• From May 1st, it is planned that all businesses for the sale of goods, as well as hairdressers, will be allowed to open under strict conditions.
• All other service sectors, including hotels and restaurants, will be evaluated by the end of April with the aim of enabling a gradual reopening from mid-May.

Source and other sources: https://www.wko.at/service/schrittweise-oeffnung-geschaefte-ab-14-4.html

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