The federal government wants to prepare Germany organizationally for the rapid growth of the omicron wave with expected hundreds of thousands of infected people per day. In addition to prioritizing the particularly safe PCR tests, a further concentration of contact tracing on important social areas is being considered, said a spokesman for Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) with a view to the upcoming Prime Ministers’ Conference. The federal and state governments want to discuss further steps in the fight against the corona pandemic on Monday.
“We have to reckon with these increasing numbers of infections and have to adapt to them organizationally,” said the spokesman. Changed quarantine and test rules ensure that public life can still take place safely, especially in critical infrastructure. These include the health care system, utilities and security authorities. A “bottleneck in the PCR tests, at least for the critical infrastructure” should be prevented, according to Lauterbach’s spokesman. “And that’s probably why we’re also focusing contact tracing on key areas, as is happening today.” The assessment of the situation and the conclusions are the subject of the federal-state meeting. (01/21/2022)
Again record values for new infections and seven-day incidence
The health authorities in Germany reported 140,160 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) within 24 hours. On Tuesday morning, the RKI reported a seven-day incidence that had increased from 638.8 to 706.3. These are again high values.
49 of the more than 400 rural and urban districts as well as Berlin districts, which are reported separately by the RKI, have an incidence of more than 1000. The Berlin district of Mitte even has an incidence of 2200.1. Another 170 people died nationwide in connection with the virus, in total there are already at least 116,485 people. (01/21/2022)
RKI introduces new indicators
In view of the continuing omicron wave, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is increasingly focusing on the burden of disease caused by Covid-19 in evaluations of the corona situation. The experts have recently published estimates of people infected with Covid 19 symptoms of various degrees of severity in the Corona Weekly Report.
Corresponding incidence estimates are based on the institute’s systems, which have been in existence for some time and are used to monitor the development of acute respiratory diseases in the population. One of them, for example, is based on information from the population.
Specifically for Covid-19, there are now estimated values for cases below the threshold for hospital admissions, such as the frequency of doctor visits: 178 per 100,000 inhabitants in the week up to January 16, according to the report. For the same period, it was estimated “that around 0.4 to 1.2 percent of children and adolescents up to the age of 14 and 0.5 to 1.1 percent of the population aged 15 and over contracted Covid-19 with symptoms of an acute respiratory disease “. A total of 3,900 is estimated for hospital admissions in the past week.
The background to the introduction of the supplementary data is that the reports on the number of people with a positive PCR test are becoming less complete due to the high load in the omicron wave, according to the RKI. Test capacities and health authorities are at the limit in many places. The RKI expects that the maximum deflection of the omicron wave in Germany will probably not be able to be precisely measured by reporting data.
According to the RKI report, the proportion of the Omikron variant in Germany has now increased even further. In the reporting data from the federal states, it was almost 90 percent last week. (01/21/2022)
GEW boss continues to call for PCR tests for teachers and educators
The Education and Science Union (GEW) is calling on Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) to continue to guarantee teachers and educators PCR tests. “If the PCR tests are prioritized now, employees in schools and daycare centers must be included,” said GEW chairwoman Maike Finnern to the newspapers of the Funke media group. The employees not only have a lot of contacts at work, “but also a lot of contact with unvaccinated people”.
Lauterbach had previously announced that given the increasing number of infections caused by the omicron variant, the more reliable PCR tests should be reserved primarily for healthcare workers.
Finnern criticized that these restrictions on the tests were necessary at all: “It shouldn’t have happened that we now had to prioritize access to the PCR tests. The capacities should have been expanded in good time.” It has always been said that schools should definitely remain open. “The provision of the availability of tests would have been a building block,” emphasized the union representative. “If there were a nationwide supply of PCR lollipop tests for schools and daycare centers, we would be in a completely different position now.” (01/21/2022)
Austrian Parliament decides on compulsory vaccination
Austria is the first country in the EU to introduce compulsory vaccinations for adults over the age of 18. Parliament approved a corresponding draft law with a large majority. 137 MEPs voted in favor, 33 against. Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) spoke of a “forward-looking step” to combat the pandemic. It was a “decision to return to living together as we knew it before the pandemic”.
The head of the opposition Social Democrats also backed the plan. “The vaccination saves lives, your own life and the life of others,” said SPÖ chairwoman and epidemiologist Pamela Rendi-Wagner. Although the government has missed a lot in the past two years, the vaccination gaps can now only be closed with compulsory vaccination. The liberal neos called for a roadmap for lifting restrictions on freedom. The right-wing FPÖ is the only parliamentary party against the move. “The introduction of this compulsion is a gigantic attack on the freedom of the people in Austria, an attack on the human dignity of the population,” said FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl.
The compulsory vaccination should apply from February. Excluded are pregnant women and people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and those who have recovered for six months. There should be controls from mid-March. Those who refuse to vaccinate face penalties of between 600 and up to 3600 euros.
Even before the start of the meeting, there was a broad majority in favor of compulsory vaccination. Only the opposition right-wing FPÖ rejects mandatory vaccination. The new regulation in Austria is the most far-reaching in the EU to date. Italy and Greece have mandatory vaccinations for the elderly. (01/20/2022)
Australian aid flight to Tonga has to turn back because of Corona Falls
An Australian plane carrying relief supplies en route to Tonga was forced to turn around mid-flight after the crew was informed of a positive coronavirus case. According to a spokeswoman for the Australian Defense Ministry, all crew members had given a negative antigen rapid test before departure, but later PCR tests showed a positive result. The South Pacific nation of Tonga, which has been devastated since a volcanic eruption and a tsunami, is in urgent need of help, but the corona-free island state is pursuing a strict border control policy and is demanding the contactless handover of aid supplies that have been arriving by plane since Thursday. Supplies have now been moved to another flight. (01/21/2022)
New infections in France, Italy and Great Britain again at a high level
In France the health authorities recorded 425,183 new infections within one day. That is fewer than the day before, when 436,167 cases of infection were detected. In hospitals, 245 other people died in connection with the corona virus, a total of 100,815 deaths in France. A scientific advisory board of the government assumes that the current fifth corona wave will continue to burden the clinics until mid-March. Nevertheless, the government has announced that clubs and discotheques will be allowed to reopen from February 16th. At that point, the easing of restrictions would begin, said Prime Minister Jean Castex.
Also in Italy the number of new infections remains at a very high level. The Ministry of Health reported 188,797 new corona cases, around 3,500 fewer than the previous day. The number of deaths, at 385, was also similar to Wednesday’s.
In Great Britain the case numbers are also stable. The authorities there report 107,364 new infections and 330 deaths. There was almost the same level of nine infections on Thursday a week ago (01/20/2022)
Austria raffles vouchers among vaccinated people
In addition to the planned compulsory corona vaccination in Austria, financial incentives should encourage people to become immunized. Before the parliamentary vote on general vaccination from the age of 18, the conservative-green coalition government and the opposition Social Democrats announced a vaccination fleet. In addition, communities that achieve high vaccination rates are to be rewarded with grants. A total of around one billion euros is to be made available for these measures.
In the lottery, 500 euros can be won for each partial vaccination, which can be redeemed as vouchers in restaurants or shops. Not only those who decide late can take part, but also those who are already protected. About every tenth stitch should be rewarded in this way. A total of 75 million euros will be distributed to communities with a vaccination rate of 80 percent, 150 million euros to 85 percent and 300 million euros to 90 percent.
“I’m really happy to be able to decide on the issue of incentives in Parliament today in addition to the issue of duty,” said Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP). Before the start of the Thursday meeting, there was a broad majority in favor of both measures. Only the opposition right-wing FPÖ rejects mandatory vaccination. The step would mean the most far-reaching regulation in the EU to date. Italy and Greece have mandatory vaccinations for the elderly. In Austria, the obligation should apply to all adult citizens. Excluded are pregnant women and anyone who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
At the same time, Austria will relax entry regulations from next Monday. Various Austrian newspapers report that 14 Omicron pioneering countries have been removed from the list of virus variant areas. These are ten countries in southern Africa as well as Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Great Britain. In the future, people who have been boosted will be able to enter Austria from all over the world without any conditions. (01/20/2022)