VIENNA, Nov 22, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - Ahead of the Christmas holidays, Austria

shut its shops, restaurants and festive markets Monday, returning to lockdown
in the most dramatic Covid-19 restriction seen in Western Europe for months.

  The decision has prompted a fierce backlash, with tens of thousands taking
to the streets, some blaming the government for not doing more to avert the
latest coronavirus wave crashing into Europe.

  As they wake up Monday morning, Austria's 8.9 million people will not be
allowed to leave home except to go to work, shop for essentials and exercise.

  The Alpine nation is also imposing a sweeping vaccine mandate from February
1 -- joining the Vatican as the only places in Europe with such a
requirement.

  Battling a resurgent pandemic almost two years since Covid-19 first
emerged, several countries on the continent have reintroduced curbs, often
choosing to ban unvaccinated people from venues like restaurants and bars.

  But not since jabs became widely available has a European Union country had
to re-enter a nationwide lockdown.

  - Backtracking -

  Austria's decision punctures earlier promises that tough virus restrictions
would be a thing of the past.

  Over the summer, then-chancellor Sebastian Kurz had declared the pandemic
"over".

  But plateauing inoculation rates, record case numbers and a spiralling
death toll have forced the government to walk back such bold claims.

  After taking office in October, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg
criticised the "shamefully low" vaccine rate -- 66 percent compared to
France's 75 percent -- and banned the un-jabbed from public spaces.

  When that proved ineffective at squelching the latest round of infections,
he announced a nationwide lockdown of 20 days, with an evaluation after 10
days.

  Schools will remain open, although parents have been asked to keep their
children at home if possible. Working remotely is also recommended.

  Political analyst Thomas Hofer blamed Scahllenberg for maintaining "the
fiction" of a successfully contained pandemic for too long.

  "The government didn't take the warnings of a next wave seriously," he told
AFP.

  "The chaos is evident."

  - Frustrations boil over -

  While many Austrians spent their weekend ahead of the stay-at-home order
enjoying mulled wine or finishing shopping, a crowd of 40,000 marched through
Vienna decrying "dictatorship".

  Andreas Schneider, a 31-year-old from Belgium who works as an economist in
the Austrian capital, described the lockdown as a "tragedy".

  "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, especially now that we have the
vaccine," he said.

  Called to rally by a far-right political party, some protesters wore a
yellow star reading "not vaccinated", mimicking the Star of David Nazis
forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust.

  Alongside the "worried" citizens are others who "are becoming radicalised",
Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said on Sunday, the same day around 6,000
people protested in the city of Linz.

  Elsewhere in Europe -- as infections soar and anti-Covid measures get
stricter -- frustrations have also erupted into demonstrations, with some
marred by clashes with police.

  Over 130 people have been arrested in the Netherlands over three days of
unrest sparked by a Covid curfew, and in Brussels on Sunday, officers fired
water cannon and tear gas at a protest police said was attended by 35,000.

  In Denmark, around 1,000 demonstrators vented at government plans to
reinstate a Covid pass for civil servants.

  "People want to live," said one of the organisers of the Dutch protests,
Joost Eras. "That's why we're here."