In the future, employers should be able to request information from employees in daycare centers, schools and nursing homes about a corona vaccination or a recovered Covid disease. After hours of consultation in the government coalition, the Union and the SPD agreed on this late Thursday evening. Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) confirmed corresponding information from the German press agency and said that mirrorsFor many years it has been “for good reason” that an employer may ask his employees in patient contact whether they have been vaccinated against infectious diseases. “In this pandemic, we want to extend this right to information to other areas.”
In the draft of a corresponding amendment from the parliamentary groups of the CDU / CSU and SPD, which is available to the dpa, it says: Especially in day care centers, schools and homes, it may be necessary “in the interests of infection protection” to give employees a which provides information about antibodies “to use differently or to refrain from employing unvaccinated persons (in certain areas)”. The reason for the project in the application is that “particularly vulnerable groups of people are cared for or are housed in the facilities concerned or that numerous people are exposed to a risk of infection due to the spatial proximity”.
The possibility is only to apply during the established epidemic situation of national scope, which the Bundestag extended for a further three months last week. However, there should not be a broader obligation to provide information, for example to enable work in an open-plan office. “The voluntary nature of the decision to claim vaccination protection remains unaffected,” the draft clarifies. The new regulation is to be decided on Tuesday in the Bundestag. (03.09.2021)
Incidence value exceeds 80
The seven-day incidence of new corona infections has risen again. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Friday morning, it was 80.2 – the previous day the value was 76.9, a week ago it was 70.3. The health authorities in Germany reported 14 251 new corona infections to the RKI within one day. This is evident from the numbers that reflect the status of the RKI dashboard at 4:10 a.m. A week ago the value was 12 029 infections.
According to the new information, 45 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours. A week ago there were 14 deaths. The RKI has counted 3,984,353 detected infections with Sars-CoV-2 since the beginning of the pandemic. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections are not detected.
The incidence of new infections has so far been the basis for many corona restrictions in the pandemic, for example as part of the federal emergency brake that expired at the end of June. In the future, other values such as the number of hospital admissions will also be given greater consideration.
The seven-day hospitalization incidence indicates how many admissions of Covid 19 patients in inpatient treatment per 100,000 inhabitants were reported in seven days. On Thursday, the RKI gave the value in the management report as 1.74 (previous day 1.81). A nationwide threshold value from when the situation can be viewed critically is not provided for the incidence of hospitalization, among other things because of large regional differences.
The previous high was around 15.5 around Christmas time. The hospitalization rate is calculated according to RKI information on the basis of the reporting date to the local health department. Accordingly, an average of about ten days elapse between an infection and hospitalization, so the hospitalization incidence reflects the infection situation with a noticeable delay. (03.09.21)
Draghi has compulsory vaccinations checked for all Italians
Italy could introduce compulsory vaccination for everyone, according to Prime Minister Mario Draghi. This will be examined when the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted regular approval for the current vaccines. So far, the EMA has only granted emergency approval for funds from Biontech, for example.
The country sees itself on the right way with the vaccinations, as Draghi emphasized. On Thursday, more than 70 percent of the population to be vaccinated over the age of twelve was vaccinated. For the end of September, the government expects a value of 80 percent, as Draghi said. Health Minister Roberto Speranza praised the younger population in particular, who are diligently vaccinated.
In addition, Prime Minister Draghi announced that the so-called Green Pass will be expanded. Currently, only people are allowed on domestic flights, long-distance buses or trains, museums and indoor areas of restaurants who have the “Green Pass” as proof of vaccination, corona recovery or a negative test; Italy recognizes the Corona passport valid in the EU. Children under the age of twelve are exempt. Draghi said it was certain that the “Green Pass” would be applied to other areas in the future. At first it remained unclear what these would be; Authorities or areas of the private economy are conceivable. (02.09.2021)
RKI report: Vaccination rates are hardly increasing any more
In Germany, vaccination fatigue is becoming more and more widespread. According to the latest weekly report from the Robert Koch Institute on Thursday evening, the proportion of fully immunized German citizens was around 61 percent compared to the previous week (59 percent). From the end of July to the end of August, the vaccination rate only increased by a good 10 percent.
Overall, at the end of midsummer, it does not come close to the values that the RKI considered desirable in July. According to the modeling designed at the time, at least 85 percent of 12 to 59 year olds and 90 percent of seniors aged 60 and over must be fully vaccinated so that a pronounced fourth wave with full intensive care units in autumn and winter is unlikely.
The virologist Christian Drosten believes that new corona restrictions are possible in view of the falling vaccination rate in Germany. “We will have to limit the number of contacts again for society as a whole. That is very clear. The burden of infection will increase in autumn,” said the researcher from the Berlin Charité on Deutschlandfunk. It is essential to work on the vaccination quota. The current quota of 61 percent completely vaccinated is not enough at all. “We cannot go into autumn with this vaccination quota,” said Drosten, “that is absolutely not enough”.
For children under the age of twelve, he recommended keeping the regular corona tests in schools. In general, corona tests alone are not an alternative. They were only a makeshift as long as there was no vaccine. “Now the population is not accepting the vaccination, that’s a big problem.” (02.09.2021)
Luca app announces “comprehensive update” for autumn
The controversial Luca app to contain the pandemic is to be expanded and improved in cooperation with the health authorities. In the future, the doctors of the health authorities will be able to contact the users of the Luca app directly and warn them in different levels, announced Patrick Hennig, Managing Director of Culture4Life GmbH. So far, app users have only received a general notification when a health department accesses a person’s Luca data.
The “comprehensive update” until autumn is currently being tested and fine-tuned with the health authorities in Hamburg, Munich, Hanover, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Nuremberg, Augsburg and North Frisia. The health authorities would benefit from differentiated warnings and higher data quality. Luca will also provide additional information about the venue. In order to improve the assessments with regard to the possible risk of infection, details such as ventilation, size, walkways and room layout will be recorded in the future. “This helps health authorities to assess possible risks better, more easily and more quickly.”
The Luca app aims to replace the mess of paper that arises from analogue recording of visits to restaurants, exhibitions and other events. The application has been criticized by data protection activists and numerous security researchers for months. You interfere with the central data storage and consider the app to be ineffective. The Luca skeptics also include individual representatives from health authorities, for example in Berlin-Neukölln.
Hennig emphasized that in the future the system will also be able to automatically detect locations with a possible increased infection rate, for example if two possible cases of infection are discovered in one location or more. The system is then able to inform users accordingly.
There will be a separate app for restaurant operators and event organizers, which will add a mobile component to the existing “Luca Locations Management Tool”. This will make it possible, for example, to check the vaccination and recovery status of the guests or test result certificates directly at check-in. The host can also use the app to check out entire tables, which increases the quality of the data. (02.09.2021)