Live blog
Status: 23.08.2021 6:49 a.m.
The seven-day incidence continues to rise to 56.4. The German Medical Association calls for associations and religion to be more involved in vaccination. The current developments in the live blog.
06:49 am
DGB and employers call for vaccinations
In view of the slow pace of the corona vaccinations in Germany, employers and trade unions are calling on people to be vaccinated. “We have to be careful not to gamble away what we have achieved,” says the joint appeal by employer president Rainer Dulger and the chairman of the German trade union federation (DGB), Reiner Hoffmann, which is available to the dpa news agency. “We cannot and must not be satisfied with the current vaccination rate.” Every vaccinated person helps to fight the spread of Covid-19 and to return to more normalcy in private and work life.
“We therefore appeal once again as social partners to all employers and employees in Germany: continue to be prudent and responsible,” said Dulger and Hoffmann. “Please continue to work to protect the people in the companies from infection.” Employers should – wherever possible – offer vaccinations and tests. “At the same time, we appeal to employees to accept the vaccination and test offers and thus contribute to a high vaccination coverage and a high level of protection.”
06:26 am
Australia: High penalties for worshipers
In a suburb of Sydney, the police sentenced visitors to a church service to heavy fines for violating the applicable corona measures through the gathering. The police in the state of New South Wales said 30 believers would have to pay 1000 Australian dollars (610 euros) each, and the church itself had been fined 5000 Australian dollars (3000 euros).
The mass was held on Sunday evening in Blacktown, west of Sydney. The police had received a notice of a possible illegal worship and found 60 adults and children in the church. In the greater Sydney area, due to rising virus numbers, a strict lockdown has been in place for eight weeks, which was recently extended to the end of September.
04:33 am
RKI reports 3668 new infections
The Robert Koch Institute reports 3668 new positive tests. That is 1542 more than on Monday a week ago, when 2126 new infections were reported. The seven-day incidence increases to 56.4 from 54.5 the previous day. The value indicates how many people per 100,000 inhabitants have been infected with the corona virus in the past seven days. Four other people died related to the virus. This increases the number of reported deaths to 91,980 within 24 hours. In total, more than 3.87 million corona tests have so far been positive in Germany.
04:25 am
China has no further new infections
China is not reporting any new confirmed cases for the first time since the most recent outbreak in July. The number of new local infections had already dropped into the single digits last week after peaking at the beginning of August. In connection with the outbreak in Nanjing and Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province near the financial metropolis of Shanghai, China recorded a total of more than 1200 infections and no fatalities.
3:55 am
New Zealand reports 35 new infections
New Zealand reports 35 more Delta infections within 24 hours. The Ministry of Health announced that 33 new cases had occurred in Auckland and two in the capital Wellington. That brings the total number of cases in the most recent outbreak to 107.
02:52 am
Taiwan: President receives controversial vaccine
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has the first dose of the locally developed Covid-19 vaccine from Medigen Vaccine Biologics administered to build trust in the population. Medigen rejects claims by the opposition party that the vaccine was unsafe or rushed to market. Taiwanese companies and aid organizations had secured vaccination units for the country directly from the manufacturer BioNTech / Pfizer after an agreement with the Taiwanese government failed at the beginning of the year due to alleged influence by China.
1:18 am
Medical Chamber: Involvement of associations and religion in vaccination
In order to increase the vaccination rate in Germany, the German Medical Association is calling for sports clubs and religious communities to be more closely involved. “We should also get sports clubs, cultural associations and the various religious institutions on board for the vaccination campaign,” said medical president Klaus Reinhardt to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “Sufficient vaccine, personnel and logistics are available. Now creative ideas are required.” For those who might have postponed going to the doctor or the vaccination center for mundane reasons, such uncomplicated vaccination offers could help.
00:08 am
Scholz wants to avoid lockdown
SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz wants to avoid a new lockdown. “There has to be a goal: no new lockdown,” says Scholz at Bild-TV. “Autumn and winter must be different from the last.” However, some precautionary measures are still necessary, in trains and buses, for example, possibly also in restaurants. “We will see an increase in the number of patients in the intensive care units. Some will also die – and not all, but almost all of them will be unvaccinated citizens of this country.”