The health authorities in Germany reported 34,145 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) within 24 hours. On Monday morning, the RKI reported a seven-day incidence that had increased from 515.7 to 528.2. In total, at least eight million people in Germany have already been infected. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections go undetected. Another 30 people died in connection with the virus. The death toll rose to 115,649. (02/17/2022)
Drosten also sees Omikron as an opportunity
The virologist Christian Drosten sees a “chance” in the milder omicron variant of the corona virus and gives hope for a life like before the pandemic. When asked whether “we will ever live like we did before the pandemic,” the scientist from the Berlin Charité said Daily mirror on Sunday: “Yes, absolutely. I’m absolutely sure of that.” Masks would have to be worn in certain situations for a few more years. But there will also be “a few benefits”: The virus has advanced medicine. “The mRNA technology is a huge breakthrough, also for cancer and for other infectious diseases, just think of influenza.”
According to Drosten, all people will sooner or later be infected with Sars-Cov-2. “In the long term, we cannot maintain the immune protection of the entire population with a booster vaccination every few months,” says the virologist. The virus must spread, “but on the basis of vaccination protection anchored in the general population” – otherwise “too many people would die”. There is a good chance that Germany will be able to end the pandemic in 2022. Next winter, however, he expects another sharp increase in the incidence, which will also make it necessary to wear a mask indoors.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach spoke in the picture on sunday however less optimistic. With a view to the currently falling numbers of Covid 19 patients in hospitals, especially in intensive care units, he warned against feeling safe. “We are threatened with very difficult weeks in Germany,” said the SPD politician picture on sunday. At the moment, it is mainly the younger people with many contacts who are ill. But as soon as the elderly become infected, the number of hospital admissions will increase again. Then the space in the intensive care units and in the normal wards could become scarce. (01/16/2022)
France’s parliament approves restrictions on unvaccinated people
The French parliament has finally approved drastic access restrictions for the unvaccinated in the fight against the fifth corona wave. In the National Assembly on Sunday evening, 215 MPs voted in favor and 58 voted against. Seven MPs abstained.
The law stipulates that unvaccinated people over the age of 16 should no longer have access to restaurants, cultural institutions and long-distance transport. In view of the enormously high number of infections, the French government wants to provide further incentives for corona vaccination. The regulation is intended to convert the currently valid health pass, which provides proof of vaccination, recovery or a current negative corona test, into a vaccination pass. A negative test will soon no longer be enough to gain access to numerous places.
Originally, the regulation was supposed to take effect on January 15th. The project was delayed due to heated debates in the National Assembly and between the two chambers of Parliament. It is still unclear when exactly the change will come into force. Individual MPs had announced that they wanted to appeal to the Constitutional Council about the text.
In the past few weeks, the number of infections in France has risen rapidly. Most recently, the registered number of infections within a week per 100,000 inhabitants nationwide was around 2,829. To protest against the planned restrictions and the government’s corona policy, around 54,000 people took to the streets in various French cities on Saturday. (01/16/2022)
Schulze: Africa no rest ramp for expired vaccines
Development Minister Svenja Schulze criticizes the unequal distribution of corona vaccinations worldwide. “In Europe, the vaccination rate is 70 percent, on the African continent less than ten percent,” said the SPD politician of the Funke media group. The pandemic can only be defeated if the whole world is vaccinated. “If this doesn’t succeed, we go into an endless loop with more and more new mutations,” said Schulze.
At the same time, she criticized the fact that vaccines that are about to expire are being donated. “It has nothing to do with treating each other with respect. Africa is not the rest ramp for expired vaccines,” she said. Developing countries also need deliveries that can be planned in order to be able to vaccinate the vaccines. That is why she wants to use the German G7 presidency to provide the international vaccine program Covax with the necessary funds for 2022. Unfortunately, so far too few countries have contributed to the financing. (01/16/2022)
Majority for compulsory vaccination
A clear majority of people in Germany would support compulsory vaccination. This comes from a representative survey with 1004 respondents by the opinion research institute INSA for the picture on sunday out. According to the report, 60 percent support compulsory vaccination, while 33 percent oppose it. 71 percent also believed that the federal government did not give a clear direction in corona policy. The opposite believed 23 percent. 61 percent of those surveyed said that Olaf Scholz did not show enough leadership in corona politics, 26 percent believed the opposite. (01/16/2022)
More Covid patients on normal wards
The German clinics are already feeling the first effects of the omicron wave through more patient admissions with Covid diseases on the normal wards. “We are already seeing this increase in the normal wards in some regions, for example in Bremen, Berlin, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein,” says the President of the German Hospital Society (DKG), Gerald Gass, who Augsburg General.
If the models prove true, more than 100,000 infected people per day must be expected very soon. Many of them would have to be hospitalized. But because of the highly contagious omicron variant, there will be more staff shortages in the clinics. He therefore appeals to general practitioners and specialists to treat patients who do not necessarily have to be treated in hospital as outpatients as far as possible. (01/16/2022)
The President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution sees a new scene of enemies of the state
The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, recognizes a new scene of enemies of the state among the demonstrators against the Corona policy. These could no longer be clearly assigned to previous categories such as right-wing or left-wing extremism, said Haldenwang Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper. They are not connected by ideological brackets, but by contempt for the democratic constitutional state and its representatives.
The pandemic is only the hook, one conceivable topic among many: “Whether it’s Corona or refugee policy. Or the flood disaster: You saw some of the same people trying to give the impression that the state was failing and don’t do anything for the people,” said Haldenwang. Haldenwang fears that in the future the extremists could possibly look for measures to combat climate change as a topic.
It’s not yet possible to reliably say how big the scene is because it’s extremely heterogeneous. For a long time it looked as if right-wing extremists were trying unsuccessfully to shape the demonstration, but that is currently changing. In Saxony, for example, the right-wing extremist micro-party “Freie Sachsen” managed to exert a significant influence on the multifaceted protest movement in the region. The dynamics of the protests are changing. In the past, there were mainly large demonstrations. Now things are more decentralized and more people are taking to the streets. In the first week of January alone, there were more than 1,000 events with more than 200,000 people in one day. “It is noticeable that the police are increasingly coming into focus as an enemy. Emergency services are increasingly being attacked not only during the protests, but also in virtual space and defamed, for example, as “mercenaries” or “murderers of the system”, says Haldenwang. (01/15/2022)
More than half a million French people are at risk of losing their vaccination certificate
In France, new rules apply to proof of vaccination in the health passport. If you were vaccinated seven months or more ago, a booster is required from this Saturday to continue to be considered vaccinated. According to the Ministry of Health, around 560,000 people are at risk of losing their vaccination status. The stricter rules have been in effect for people over 65 since mid-December. The health card complies with the 3G rule and must be shown in France to get into bars or theatres, for example.
In the fight against the fifth wave of corona, the French government wants to provide further incentives for vaccination. She also wanted to adjust the access regulations in mid-January and deny the unvaccinated access to cultural institutions, restaurants and long-distance trains. However, the bill has not yet passed Parliament. It could then finally be adopted on Sunday.
The number of infections has skyrocketed in France in recent weeks. Omicron now accounts for two-thirds of the cases sequenced. Most recently, the authorities reported around 329,000 infections within one day. The number of infections registered per 100,000 people within a week was around 2829 nationwide.01/15/2022)