Germany removes all corona high-risk areas from the list. The regulation will come into effect at midnight on Thursday, said the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on its website. “With the widespread occurrence of the omicron variant, it becomes apparent that the ability of this variant to cause a threatening disease is less severe compared to the previously dominant variants,” the RKI explains the decision. A classification as a high-risk area only applies to areas in which virus variants are widespread that have a higher risk of serious diseases than Omicron.
The classification as a risk area is made after a joint analysis and decision by the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland. (02.03.2022)
Biden prepares USA for life after the pandemic
US President Joe Biden has prepared the people of the country for a future in which the corona pandemic will no longer determine their entire everyday life. “For more than two years, Covid has impacted every decision in our lives and in the life of this nation. And I know you are tired, frustrated and exhausted,” Biden said in his State of the Union address. But thanks to people’s perseverance, progress is now being made.
“It’s time for Americans to get back to work and repopulate our great inner cities. People working from home can feel safe and get back to the office,” Biden said. He does not want to accept living with the virus. Just as other diseases have been fought, Covid-19 will also be fought. Vaccination is particularly important for this.
Biden also announced a new initiative to treat Covid-19 with corona drugs. “People can be tested in a pharmacy and, if the result is positive, receive the antiviral pills on the spot. And it’s free of charge,” he said. The White House said the program should start in pharmacies and select stores later this month.
Pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s Covid-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in the United States on December 23. “I’ve ordered more pills than anyone else in the world. Pfizer is working overtime to get us a million pills this month and more than double that next month,” Biden said. The drug is intended to treat positively tested corona patients from the age of twelve with mild to moderate symptoms and a high risk of a serious course of the disease.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 950,000 people have died in the United States from a corona infection. The vaccination rate is stagnating. In the country of 330 million people, 65 percent of people are double vaccinated. Almost 44 percent of them have a booster vaccination. The omicron wave hit the USA with full force in December – the number of cases has since fallen massively. (02.03.2022)
Drosten also warns of infections in summer
The virologist Christian Drosten does not assume that the summer will be completely free of corona worries. On the one hand, the current vaccination progress is not sufficient, on the other hand, the infection activity through the omicron variant is still high, said the scientist from the Berlin Charité on Tuesday in the podcast Coronavirus update from NDR Info. “That’s why I’m assuming there won’t be an infection-free summer.”
Drosten pointed out that in South Africa, for example, the omicron wave had risen steeply in midsummer. He doesn’t assume that an “untamed” wave will be seen in Germany in the summer, but “you will also be able to get infected with this omicron virus in the summer”. Accordingly, he also thinks it is advisable to continue wearing masks indoors in summer. In particular, wearing FFP2 masks indoors is “the most efficient measure of all” in the long term.
With a view to temperatures falling again over the course of the year, Drosten expressed the assessment that there would be another winter wave. He hopes that this will not be accompanied by a serious burden of illness in the population, but the risk of large-scale work absences will continue to exist. “The pandemic is not only over when the vaccination has reduced the severity of the disease, but also when this high level of transmissibility has ended as a result of certain modifications in the population,” he warned.
Drosten explained that the omicron subtype BA.2, which is probably even easier to transmit and is spreading more and more, remains an uncertainty factor for the development. In its latest weekly report, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) shows the proportion of positive findings in a sample to be around 24 percent.
Drosten said that from previous study data from several countries, it was initially not possible to deduce with certainty whether BA.2 would lead to more severe disease progressions. The data are still very preliminary. However, he hopes for insights from Hong Kong, where many older people have been very hesitant about the vaccination and where Omicron is now showing a heavy burden of disease in this group.
Despite the fact that the vaccines have already been adapted to Omikron, Drosten reiterated his appeal to first be vaccinated and boosted with the vaccines that are already available. A US study with macaques has shown, for example, that the booster effect of a third vaccination with the Moderna vaccine against Omikron is just as good as that with a vaccine adapted for Omikron. It is true that no concrete conclusions can be drawn from this for humans. But Drosten advised clearly: “You shouldn’t wait, you should take the third dose with the old vaccine. You can always refresh yourself.” (02.03.2022)
Hong Kong considers nine-day lockdown
The Chinese special administrative region of Hong Kong is considering the newspaper because of the rapidly increasing corona numbers South China Morning Post according to a “large-scale lockdown”. The restrictions are therefore expected for nine days from mid-March, when a mass test of the entire population is to begin in the metropolis with a population of 7.5 million. Every resident of Hong Kong should be tested three times. According to the report, it is still unclear what exactly the lockdown should look like. Unlike in big cities on the Chinese mainland, where people are sometimes not allowed to leave their homes at all, a scenario is being discussed in Hong Kong in which supermarkets are open to buy groceries.
After two years of largely successful prevention of the virus, the number of new infections in Hong Kong has reached new record levels in recent days. Tens of thousands of infections have recently been reported every day. The government’s corona strategy, which had previously largely pursued a zero-Covid strategy, drew increasing criticism. Despite the high number of cases and often mild courses, the rules stipulate that all infected people be isolated in the hospital or in special quarantine facilities, which many Hong Kongers find disproportionate. At the same time, experts criticized the low vaccination rate among older people, which is why there are currently a relatively large number of deaths in this age group. (03/01/2022)
Israel is now allowing unvaccinated tourists to enter the country
For the first time since the pandemic began, Israel is allowing unvaccinated tourists to enter the country without a special permit. Since Tuesday, foreigners have only had to take two PCR tests – one before departure and one after entry. So far, entry for tourists was only possible with a full vaccination. From now on, unvaccinated Israelis no longer have to be in quarantine for at least five days after entering the country.
Since the end of January, the number of infections in the omicron wave has been falling in Israel. On Monday evening, the Ministry of Health reported 10,869 new cases for the previous day. The number of seriously ill people has been falling since the beginning of February – to 534. Currently, around 64 percent of the 9.4 million citizens are fully vaccinated. (03/01/2022)
Mallorca lifts almost all corona restrictions
As of this Tuesday, Mallorca will lift most of the corona restrictions that are still in force. The regional government announced that only the mask requirement indoors, which continues to apply throughout Spain, and the smoking ban in the outdoor areas of restaurants will remain in place.
The reason for the easing is the positive development in the number of infections and the high vaccination rate in the Balearic Islands. Numerous restrictions will be abolished – including the restrictions on the number of visitors – for example in gastronomy, in nightlife, at cultural, sports and other events as well as in retirement homes. There had already been easing step by step in the past few weeks. The corona numbers in Mallorca, the other Balearic Islands and throughout Spain have been falling rapidly for weeks. The number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days was 204 in the Balearic Islands, after this value was more than 1400 a month ago. (02/28/2022)