In happier times, Vienna's Stadthalle was one of the city's main concert and event venues but on Friday morning, it attracted crowds waiting for a quick coronavirus test.

According to an AFP report, the venue is one of three in the Austrian capital where the government's mass coronavirus testing programme, inspired by a similar one in neighbouring Slovakia, is getting underway in earnest.

Teething problems may be inevitable, but two thousand army recruits mobilised to staff the centres in Vienna alone were ready to step in.

While the army has long planned for a pandemic, “it's the first time we've dealt with not just a planning exercise — it's working in practice,” the site commander said.

Ten million tests have been ordered — for a population of 8.8 million — and the government hopes the testing programme will help the country safely emerge from its second coronavirus lockdown on Monday.