Austria's government is likely to decide on Sunday to impose a lockdown on people who are not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus as daily infections have surged to record levels, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg has said, according to Reuters.

Schallenberg did not say when the lockdown would take effect, but the two provinces hardest-hit by this wave of infections, Upper Austria and Salzburg, will introduce the measure for themselves on Monday.

"The aim is very clear: that we give the green light this Sunday for a nationwide lockdown for the unvaccinated," Schallenberg, a conservative, told a news conference, adding that intensive-care units are increasingly strained.