In Germany, the number of infections detected increases by 126,955, according to data on the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) website. The seven-day incidence rises to 894.3. The previous day the reading was 840.3. Experts expect more and more cases that cannot be recorded, partly because test capacities and health authorities are increasingly at their limit.
According to the RKI, the number of deaths increases by 214 to a total of 116,960. Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 8,871,795 infections with Sars-CoV-2 have been detected. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections go undetected. (01/25/2022)
The federal and state governments do not want to loosen or tighten them
No further easing of the corona measures and prioritization of PCR tests and contact tracing: the federal and state governments have agreed on this. The existing contact restrictions and access rules have contributed to the very high number of infections of the omicron wave in Germany, which was predicted at the end of last year, said Chancellor Scholz (SPD) after the consultations. It was agreed to continue down this path. Regarding possible easing, he said: “We will then make decisions at the right time, but now the following applies: stay the course.”
“If there is a risk of the health system being overloaded”, “further measures” will have to be decided, said Hendrik Wüst (CDU), the head of government in North Rhine-Westphalia, who is currently leading the Prime Ministers’ Conference. At the same time, one wants to develop “opening perspectives” for the time when such an overload can be ruled out.
Like the health ministers of the federal states, the heads of government decided that PCR tests to be prioritized in the laboratories in the future: They should be evaluated with priority by employees in clinics, homes for the disabled or nursing homes, as well as by people who are particularly at risk. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and his colleagues in the federal states are now to pour this into a new regulation. At the same time, the test capacities would have to be expanded.
In view of the sharp rise in the number of cases, the health authorities could also use the previous one contact tracing no longer create, said Berlin’s governing mayor Fraziska Giffey (SPD). Here, too, there must be a prioritization, the federal government should develop a corresponding concept. At the same time, all citizens should inform their contact persons themselves if they have contracted the corona virus and use tools such as the Corona warning app.
At the same time, the exclusion of spectators from major sporting events should remain the case, even if the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) calls for an end to the ghost games demanded in the football stadiums. Shortly before Christmas, the federal-state group had agreed on the exclusion, but it is not fully implemented everywhere: spectators are still allowed in some states, albeit fewer than usual. They now want to standardize this, it says in the Decision of the federal-states-round. The federal states want to develop a joint model by February 9, and the heads of government want to meet again a week later. By then, the federal government should also submit a proposal as to whether and how economic aid for affected companies and the Corona special rules at short-time allowance be extended; they are supposed to expire on March 31st.
Before the virtual federal-state meeting, politicians from the FDP and CSU in particular had called for a plan for future relaxation of the protective measures. CSU regional group chief Alexander Dobrindt said world, he expects a clever strategy from the round of prime ministers with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to “move out of the pandemic bit by bit”. It is clear that the Omicron variant changes the situation and requires a new assessment. “Fatigue effects in society” must also be taken into account, according to the CSU politician.
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) said in Anne Will’s ARD program that when the peak of the omicron wave expected for mid-February has passed and the numbers in hospitals have also fallen, the measures would have to be relaxed. This is self-evident. (01/24/2022)
Demands for a central vaccination register are getting louder
Baden-Württemberg and Hesse have asked the federal government to examine the rapid establishment of a central vaccination register. A joint protocol statement by the two countries on the Corona decision by the prime ministers states that the register is necessary to support the current vaccination campaign in Germany. “This lays the foundations so that future waves of infection can be countered more effectively.”
The states governed by the Greens and the CDU are of the opinion that a vaccination register would be “an important element of administrative modernization and, thanks to the possibility of linking it to digital patient files, a central building block for the digitization of the healthcare system”. But there are protests from privacy advocates.
The Union in the Bundestag is also demanding a vaccination register – regardless of a possible expansion of the corona vaccination obligation. In order to make the vaccination campaigns better, to get a better overview and to control the pandemic more specifically, there is no getting around a vaccination register, said the deputy parliamentary group leader Andrea Lindholz (CSU). It is also about the enforcement and control of compulsory vaccination. In the case of facility-related vaccination requirements, legal problems have been shifted to employers. That is not expedient with a general obligation to vaccinate, said Lindholz.
Health politician Sepp Müller (CDU) announced that the Union faction wanted to specify its demand for compulsory vaccination later in the week. On Wednesday, the Bundestag will discuss general corona vaccination for the first time in an orientation debate. From March 15th, the facility-related vaccination requirement that has already been decided will apply to staff in the health and care sector. The deputies should now decide whether this vaccination requirement will be extended to other population groups.
There is talk of compulsory vaccination for all adults over the age of 18 and compulsory vaccination for groups particularly at risk from Covid-19, for example for all citizens over the age of 50. However, parts of the Bundestag are also against any extension of the vaccination requirement, including members of the FDP, who have drawn up a motion against the vaccination requirement. For the vote in the Bundestag, the so-called faction constraint is to be lifted.
For the Union faction, Müller announced that she would position herself uniformly or at least with a large majority for a proposal. The CDU and CSU have repeatedly criticized the fact that the coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP does not want to submit its own draft, but leaves the decision-making to the Bundestag alone. According to Lindholz, it is still unclear how the Union will position itself. The parliamentary group is in the “orientation phase”, also because many questions about implementation and enforcement have not yet been answered by the traffic light coalition. (01/24/2022)
Corona highs in Israel: half a million active cases
More than half a million of the more than nine million Israelis are currently infected with the corona virus. The number of active cases is more than 531,000, the Israeli Ministry of Health said. More than 83,000 new cases were reported within 24 hours – more than at any time since the pandemic began two years ago. Experts assume that the actual number of new infections is significantly higher. The number of seriously ill patients is 814.
The expert Eran Segal from the Weizmann Institute in Rechovot assumes that Israel has reached the peak of the omicron wave. “I expect the number of cases to fall this week, we’re already seeing that among the over-60s,” the government adviser told the ynet news site. The number of seriously ill people will initially continue to rise. He estimated that three million Israelis – about a third of the population – have already been infected with the omicron variant.
Only 63 percent of the 9.4 million Israelis are still considered fully vaccinated. In Israel, this includes people who have been vaccinated twice up to six months after the second vaccination and people who have received a booster vaccination. 29 percent of the population have not been vaccinated at all, and the validity of the vaccination has expired for eight percent. Almost 600,000 people in Israel have already received a fourth dose of the vaccine. (01/24/2022)
Berlin suspends attendance at schools
In view of the increasing number of corona infections due to the Omicron variant, compulsory attendance at Berlin schools has been temporarily suspended. From Tuesday, parents can decide for themselves whether their child goes to school or works and learns at home on tasks and projects, as Senator for Education Astrid-Sabine Busse (SPD) announced. This initially applies until the end of February.
The face-to-face teaching remains the “regular form”, it was added in a statement from the education administration. “Schools will make learning opportunities available to all students as far as possible. If parents decide against their child being present at school, the school must be informed immediately and informally in writing.” (01/24/2022)
At least 70 arrests in Brussels
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Brussels against the Corona requirements – sometimes with violence. 50,000 people gathered in downtown Brussels on Sunday, as a police spokeswoman for the German Press Agency confirmed. The spokeswoman said six people were arrested before the demonstration began for possession of dangerous or prohibited items.
A total of at least 70 people were arrested, among other things, for property damage or carrying dangerous or illegal objects, according to a police statement. Three police officers and twelve demonstrators were taken to the hospital with injuries, nobody is in danger of life. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo strongly condemned the riots. “Everyone is free to express their opinion. But our society will never tolerate blind violence,” said De Croo, according to the Belga news agency.
The demonstrators marched from the Nordbahnhof to the Europaviertel, where riots broke out, as Belga and other media reported. Accordingly, demonstrators threw objects at police officers and damaged buildings. The police used tear gas and water cannons to force those involved away. Videos showed broken windows of the European External Action Service building. According to the police, the demonstration was broken up at 3 p.m.
According to a Belga report, the demonstrators held flags from different countries such as Germany, France and Poland, many did not wear masks. According to the information, signs contained slogans against the corona vaccination and calls to “protect” children. According to Belga, the demonstration was organized by various European groups. (01/23/2022)