The health authorities in Germany reported 140,160 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) within 24 hours. On Tuesday morning, the RKI reported a seven-day incidence that had increased from 638.8 to 706.3. This is again a high.
50 of the more than 400 rural and urban districts in Germany have an incidence of more than 1000. The Berlin Stadtbzeirk Mitte even has an incidence of 2200.1. Another 170 people died nationwide in connection with the virus, in total there are already at least 116,485 people. (21.01.2022)
Australian aid flight to Tonga has to turn back because of Corona Falls
The Australian plane carrying aid was forced to turn around mid-flight en route to Tonga after the crew was informed of a positive coronavirus case. According to a spokeswoman for the Australian Ministry of Defense, all crew members had given a negative rapid antigen test before departure, but later PCR tests showed a positive result. The South Pacific nation of Tonga, which has been devastated since a volcanic eruption and a tsunami, is in urgent need of help, but the corona-free island state is pursuing a strict border control policy and is demanding the contactless handover of aid supplies that have been arriving by plane since Thursday. Supplies have now been moved to another flight. (21.01.2022)
Austrian Parliament decides on compulsory vaccination
Austria is the first country in the EU to introduce compulsory vaccinations for adults over the age of 18. Parliament approved a corresponding draft law with a large majority. 137 MEPs voted in favor, 33 against. Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) spoke of a “forward-looking step” to combat the pandemic. It was a “decision to return to living together as we knew it before the pandemic”.
The head of the opposition Social Democrats also backed the plan. “The vaccination saves lives, your own life and the life of others,” said SPÖ chairwoman and epidemiologist Pamela Rendi-Wagner. Although the government has missed a lot in the past two years, the vaccination gaps can now only be closed with compulsory vaccination. The liberal neos called for a roadmap for lifting restrictions on freedom. The right-wing FPÖ is the only parliamentary party against the move. “The introduction of this compulsion is a gigantic attack on the freedom of the people in Austria, an attack on the human dignity of the population,” said FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl.
The compulsory vaccination should apply from February. Excluded are pregnant women and people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and those who have recovered for six months. There should be controls from mid-March. Those who refuse to vaccinate face penalties of between 600 and up to 3600 euros.
Even before the start of the meeting, there was a broad majority in favor of compulsory vaccination. Only the opposition right-wing FPÖ rejects mandatory vaccination. The new regulation in Austria is the most far-reaching in the EU to date. Italy and Greece have mandatory vaccinations for the elderly. (20.01.2022)
RKI introduces new indicators
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) expects that the maximum deflection of the omicron wave in Germany cannot be precisely measured by reporting data. “However, the magnitude and the decisive trends in the epidemiological development are reliably displayed,” writes the RKI in the Corona weekly report. The background to the temporarily incomplete recording of infected people is, for example, limited test capacities and human resources due to the high number of cases, as it was said.
In the future, the RKI will no longer rely solely on the reporting data, but will also draw on findings from other monitoring systems on acute respiratory diseases. From now on, the institute’s reports will show several estimates of the incidence of Covid 19 cases with symptoms of different degrees of severity. For the second week of January, for example, it was estimated “that around 0.4 to 1.2 percent of children and adolescents up to the age of 14 and 0.5 to 1.1 percent of the population aged 15 and over contracted Covid-19 with symptoms of an acute respiratory disease fell ill”. The incidences of doctor visits and hospital treatments are also estimated accordingly. This information is fed, for example, from information from the population on doctor visits. (20.01.2022)
New infections in France, Italy and Great Britain again at a high level
In France the health authorities recorded 425,183 new infections within one day. That is fewer than the day before, when 436,167 cases of infection were detected. In hospitals, 245 other people died in connection with the corona virus, a total of 100,815 deaths in France. A scientific advisory board of the government assumes that the current fifth corona wave will continue to burden the clinics until mid-March. Nevertheless, the government has announced that clubs and discotheques will be allowed to reopen from February 16th. At that point, the easing of restrictions would begin, said Prime Minister Jean Castex.
Also in Italy the number of new infections remains at a very high level. The Ministry of Health reported 188,797 new corona cases, around 3,500 fewer than the previous day. The number of deaths, at 385, was also similar to Wednesday’s.
In Great Britain the case numbers are also stable. The authorities there report 107,364 new infections and 330 deaths. There was almost the same level of nine infections on Thursday a week ago (20.01.2022)
Austria raffles vouchers among vaccinated
In addition to the planned compulsory corona vaccination in Austria, financial incentives should encourage people to become immunized. Before the parliamentary vote on general vaccination from the age of 18, the conservative-green coalition government and the opposition Social Democrats announced a vaccination fleet. In addition, communities that achieve high vaccination rates are to be rewarded with grants. A total of around one billion euros is to be made available for these measures.
In the lottery, 500 euros can be won for each partial vaccination, which can be redeemed as vouchers in restaurants or shops. Not only those who decide late can take part, but also those who are already protected. About every tenth stitch should be rewarded in this way. A total of 75 million euros will be distributed to communities with a vaccination rate of 80 percent, 150 million euros to 85 percent and 300 million euros to 90 percent.
“I’m really happy to be able to decide on the issue of incentives in Parliament today in addition to the issue of duty,” said Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP). Before the start of the Thursday meeting, there was a broad majority in favor of both measures. Only the opposition right-wing FPÖ rejects mandatory vaccination. The step would mean the most far-reaching regulation in the EU to date. Italy and Greece have mandatory vaccinations for the elderly. In Austria, the obligation should apply to all adult citizens. Excluded are pregnant women and anyone who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
At the same time, Austria will relax entry regulations from next Monday. Various Austrian newspapers report that 14 Omicron pioneering countries have been removed from the list of virus variant areas. These are ten countries in southern Africa as well as Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Great Britain. In the future, people who have been boosted will be able to enter Austria from all over the world without any conditions. (20.01.2022)
The AfD is suing against Corona rules in the Bundestag
The AfD parliamentary group has filed a lawsuit against the new Corona rules in the Bundestag with the Federal Constitutional Court. As the German Press Agency learned from the parliamentary group, an application for an interim order to lift the new rules was made on Tuesday.
The new 2-G-plus rule must be lifted immediately so that every member of parliament can again perform his or her parliamentary tasks on an equal footing and without discrimination, regardless of their vaccination status, said the parliamentary manager of the AfD parliamentary group, Stephan Brandner. “Only in this way can the right to an effective opposition enshrined in the Basic Law be guaranteed again.” He spoke of an exclusion of freely elected MPs, which was “specifically directed against the AfD faction”. Last week, the Bundestag passed the tightened corona rules against the votes of the AfD. MEPs who are neither vaccinated nor recovered are no longer allowed in the plenary hall or in the committees, even if they test negative. You can only follow the sessions from the stands with a current negative test.
The AfD also sharply criticized the recent reduction in the convalescent status to a period of 28 to 90 days after a positive PCR test. Because of the new regulation, parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel, who says she had Corona in November, has to sit in the stands from February. “The federal government must immediately withdraw the reduction in the status of convalescents, which is also highly controversial among scientists,” demanded Weidel. Your co-group leader Tino Chrupalla called the shortening “mere arbitrariness”. (20.01.2022)
BVG restricts its subway service because of the Omicron wave
Passengers on the Berlin subway will have to wait a little longer for the trains from Monday. After the bus service, the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) are also thinning out the timetables for the subways. The background to this is the increasing number of cases of illness and quarantine in the current omicron wave. A total of 4.8 percent of the usual trips are eliminated, the transport company said. Wherever possible, the largest possible vehicles are used. The entire network will continue to be served reliably.
Passengers waited no more than a minute longer from Monday, the BVG assured. “Berlin can rely on the BVG,” said operations manager Rolf Erfurt. The adjustments should therefore ensure that buses and trains will continue to run reliably in the coming weeks. Bus traffic has thinned out a bit since Wednesday. From Monday, 21 of the 150 lines will be affected, especially on connections with several lines. “All sections and stops in the Berlin bus network will continue to be served,” it said. (20.01.2022)