No, they are not pictures from 2012. At the supposed climax of the fourth wave, of all things, the domestic political celebrities from the Federal President down in the ORF studio for a happy party. The only one who can be seen wearing a mask on the TV pictures is the cameraman scurrying past. “He would probably also lose his job if he didn’t wear one,” says morning show presenter Tanja Pfaffeneder.
“You could have done all of that over Skype,” says Richard Schmitt. But that would probably have been too much of a hassle. And so you simply tell the people that it is the strictest lockdown and that Christmas markets are taboo. “While the mob is not allowed to go to the mulled wine stand, the patricians just keep on celebrating”.
