Status: December 17, 2021 6:32 a.m.
In the live ticker, NDR.de will inform you today – on Friday, December 17, 2021 – about the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic for Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Hamburg. You can see yesterday’s news and events in Thursday’s blog read up.
The essentials in brief:
- EU orders vaccine adapted to Omikron variant
- Hanover: Prime Minister Weil meets Federal Minister of Health Lauterbach
- All over Lower Saxony Warning level 2 applies from today
- Hamburg: Process of tax evasion in mask delivery begins
- MV: Last day of school in attendance this year
- Is there a firecracker sales ban for New Year’s Eve?
- Reported new infections in the north: 859 in Schleswig-Holstein, 2,631 in Lower Saxony
- RKI: 50,968 new corona cases registered nationwide – incidence at 331.8
Tables and graphics: This is how the vaccination campaign is going in the north
Map: New infections in the northern German districts
06:32 am
Hamburg: Process of tax evasion in mask delivery begins
A delivery of more than 23 million Corona protective masks to the Federal Ministry of Health, in which taxes in the millions are said to have been evaded, will be negotiated at the Hamburg Regional Court from today and presumably until the end of April: Five men must answer for tax evasion by gang. According to the public prosecutor’s office, they should have evaded 5.5 million euros in taxes on delivery. They would have invested the money in expensive cars. The accused are said to have sold around 23.3 million respirators to the ministry for around 109 million euros in the spring of last year – but they are said not to have properly paid the sales tax due to the tax office.
06:13 am
EU orders vaccine adapted to Omikron variant
Given the worrying Omikron variant, the EU states want to have an initial tranche of more than 180 million doses of the adapted corona vaccine delivered by Biontech / Pfizer. An existing contract stipulates that the companies – if desired – adapt the vaccines to new variants within 100 days, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen tweeted on the night after an EU summit in Brussels. According to her, the EU states are now using this option. In total, the contract with Biontech / Pfizer provides for the delivery of up to 1.8 billion vaccine doses by the end of 2023.
“We know that the Omikron variant really threatens us,” said von der Leyen. It is spreading at an extremely fast rate and there is a possible risk that it will at least partially bypass vaccination protection. The health systems are already overloaded. This is due to the high number of unvaccinated people. The answer to this could only be to expand vaccination, to vaccinate children from five, to give booster vaccinations and to follow protective measures.
05:58 am
2,631 new cases in Lower Saxony
2,631 new corona cases were registered in Lower Saxony. Yesterday it was 3,308 and last Friday it was 2,845. The seven-day incidence has fallen slightly, from 179.2 yesterday to 176.4 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants (previous week: 197.6). Another 26 deaths in connection with a corona infection have been recorded. This increases the death toll to a total of 6,659.
05:45 am
Lauterbach and Weil exchange information about the corona situation
The new Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (both SPD) are exchanging views on the corona pandemic in Hanover today. Afterwards the politicians give a press statement in the guest house of the state government – NDR.de will broadcast live from 12.30 p.m.. A visit from Lauterbach to the vaccination center at the zoo is planned beforehand.
05:45 am
Warning level 2 applies throughout Lower Saxony from today
Because the threshold values for hospitalization and intensive care bed occupancy in Lower Saxony have been exceeded on five working days in a row, the Corona warning level 2 applies nationwide from today. The hospitalization value was specified on Wednesday as 6.4 (threshold: 6.0) Intensive bed occupancy rate was 10.5 percent (threshold: 10.0 percent). In most rural districts, however, nothing will change because this warning level is already in force there because the threshold values for the lead indicator hospitalization and the regional incidences have been exceeded.
According to the Ministry of Health, the rules are only tightened in the Heidekreis and in the city of Wilhelmshaven. Due to the comparatively low incidence values, warning level 1 was previously applied there. This means that unvaccinated people no longer have access to many areas. In restaurants, for example, 2G or 2G-Plus applies.
Further information
05:45 am
MV: Last day of school in attendance this year
The 155,000 or so schoolchildren in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are going to school for the last time this year to relieve teachers and health authorities. The Christmas holidays don’t start until next Wednesday. The children and adolescents should study and do tasks independently at home on Monday and Tuesday. Education Minister Simone Oldenburg (Linke) said that in the current situation everything must be done to keep the number of infections in schools to a minimum and to ensure that attendance at the school after the Christmas holidays. For children in grades 1 to 6 who cannot be looked after at home, there is emergency care in the school.
05:45 am
Nationwide incidence continued to fall
The nationwide seven-day incidence fell again compared to the previous day. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week in the morning as 331.8. Yesterday the value was 340.1, a week ago it was 413.7. The health authorities in Germany reported 50,968 new corona infections to the RKI within one day. Exactly one week ago there were 61,288 infections. According to the new information, 437 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours, in the previous week 484. The number of corona patients admitted to clinics per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days was given by the RKI as 5.17 (previous day: 5.27).
05:45 am
Service: Determine the incidence value for your place of residence
The seven-day incidence of new corona infections is also on the move in northern Germany. If you want to know what the situation is like in your city or in your district, simply enter your postcode here.
05:45 am
Schleswig-Holstein: Corona incidence increases to 164.9
The trend continues: In Schleswig-Holstein, the seven-day incidence of new corona infections has increased further. According to the state registration office, the number of new infections registered per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days is given as 164.9 – after 163.2 on the previous day and 156.9 in the previous week. Within 24 hours, 859 new laboratory-confirmed corona cases were registered nationwide (previous day: 953 / previous week: 837). With another death, the number of coronavirus-related deaths recorded since the beginning of the pandemic rose to 1,851 nationwide.
The value of the hospitalization incidence, which is important for corona measures – how many corona patients per 100,000 people came to clinics within a week – rose from 3.02 the previous day to currently 3.44.
05:45 am
Wolgast Hospital offers antibody therapy against corona
The corona vaccination does not work for some high-risk patients – that is why they are dependent on therapy with antibodies. In this way, they can also be protected prophylactically against the virus. Such an outpatient infusion of artificially produced immunoglobulins is possible, for example, in the hospitals in Wolgast and Greifswald. The doctors there also use this method to treat – mostly unvaccinated – corona patients in the early stages in order to prevent severe disease progression.
VIDEO: Wolgast hospital offers antibody therapy against corona (3 min)
05:45 am
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05:45 am
It starts with the Corona live ticker on Friday
Good morning from our editorial team! NDR.de will keep you up to date today – on Friday, December 17 – about the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in northern Germany. In the ticker you will find all the important news and also content from the NDR radio and television programs. You can see yesterday’s news and events in Read Thursday’s blog.
FAQ, podcast and background
The coronavirus blogs for reading
