Canada expands vaccination requirements. It will apply from October to air passengers from commercial airlines, passengers on large ships and train travelers between the provinces, explains Transport Minister Omar Alghabra. All federal officials and employees of state-owned companies as well as those of state-controlled transport companies are also covered by the new regulation, says Dominic LeBlanc, who is responsible for cooperation with the provinces in the government. One Canadian public television report employees who do not get vaccinated risk losing their jobs. There should be exceptions for people who cannot be vaccinated. The rules should apply “as soon as possible”. (08/13/2021)
The Netherlands aim to end the distance rules on September 20th
The Dutch government is examining whether the distance rules will be lifted on September 20th, given the decreasing number of cases. For now, however, the regulations must remain in place, including closing nightclubs and eateries after midnight, says Prime Minister Mark Rutte. However, the universities and technical colleges are allowed to open their doors again after the summer vacation and students can get face-to-face classes again after one and a half years.
Around two thirds of people over 16 in the Netherlands are fully vaccinated. An attempt to lift restrictions on June 26 was reversed two weeks later because of a surge in cases.
Stricter rules are increasing the vaccination rate in France
Stricter corona rules with the announced end of free tests have increased the vaccination rate in France. The health authorities announced that 67.4 percent of the population had now received at least one vaccination and 56.4 percent also received the second vaccination. When looking at all residents aged twelve and over, the proportion of those vaccinated for the first time was 78.4 percent and those already fully vaccinated was 65.7 percent. Despite the mandatory vaccination for staff in hospitals and nursing homes, which will come into force on September 15, the vaccination quota of a good 70 percent of those who have been completely vaccinated is too low, the authorities complain.
The seven-day incidence in France is currently 236. It was significantly higher in the regions of Occitania (413), Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (590) and on the island of Corsica, which Germany has classified as a high-risk corona area since Sunday (630).
This weekend, mass protests against the stricter corona rules are expected in France for the fifth time in a row. In addition to the compulsory vaccination, it is about the so-called health passport with proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative test. This has been required since the beginning of the week, among other things, when visiting cafes and restaurants and when traveling by long-distance train or plane. Unlike in Germany, the relaxation of restrictions in France in recent months has not been linked to mandatory testing. (08/13/2021)
Travelers taken from aircraft with fake corona tests
According to official information, Israeli authorities took 23 travelers off an airplane to New York because of fake corona tests. The Ministry of Health announced on Twitter that there was a “suspicion” on the part of the airline United Airlines. A check by representatives of the ministry at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv showed that the tests were falsified.
The 23 people were questioned by the police. They had received a fine and their data had been handed over to US authorities, the department wrote. Other possible penalties would be considered.
According to the news site Globes each traveler had to pay a fine of around 1320 euros. There is also the option of banning them from re-entering Israel for five to ten years. According to the ministry, people with fake corona tests have been discovered every day over the past week.
Entry into Israel for individual tourists has been banned since the beginning of the pandemic. Israel lets isolated groups into the country. There are also special permits for people with families in Israel, among others.
Since the beginning of June, the number of infections in Israel has increased significantly again. On Thursday, the ministry reported 5,946 new infected people for the previous day. On Monday, for the first time in six months, more than 6000 infections were found in one day. The Delta variant, which is considered to be particularly contagious, is primarily responsible for the new increase.
According to a report on the news site ynet The Israeli government expects up to 2,400 seriously ill corona patients by mid-September. At the height of the pandemic in Israel in January, the number of seriously ill people was around 1,200.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennet announced on Wednesday that he would immediately support the health system with the equivalent of around 661 million euros in order to expand treatment capacities.
Corona situation in Tokyo “out of control”
The corona situation in the Paralympic city of Tokyo is becoming more and more serious. A team of government experts compared the infection situation in the capital on Thursday with that of a disaster that was “out of control,” as Japanese media reported. The experts warned that medical care – also for the treatment of patients without corona infection – threatened to collapse. Tokyo registered 4,989 new infections on Thursday. This is the second highest level of new infections so far. The number of patients with severe symptoms rose to a maximum of 218 cases.
After the Summer Games, which ended on Sunday, Tokyo plans to open the Paralympics on August 24th, which should last until September 5th. At the Olympic Games, spectators were excluded from almost all competitions due to the corona situation. How this will be handled at the Paralympics has not yet been decided.
Given the alarming rise in infections in Tokyo, the experts called for the amount of people on the streets to be halved compared to the beginning of July. Places that are particularly at risk, such as the grocery departments located in the basement of large department stores, would have to use stricter measures to limit the number of customers.
Given the increasing number of people in need of medical care, government experts called for support from hospitals in other prefectures as well. The health system could not be maintained if the current infection situation continued, it said. It is not only more and more difficult for hospitals to accept new corona patients, but also emergency patients who are otherwise ill or injured. (08/12/2021)
New Zealand does not want to reopen its borders until 2022
New Zealand is expected to reopen its borders to foreign travelers for the first time in early 2022. This is possible because there will be a vaccination offer for all New Zealanders from September – three months earlier than planned, as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced. The island nation in the South Pacific had largely isolated itself from the outside world in March 2020.
Only New Zealand citizens and people residing in the country were allowed to enter. In April, the government opened a travel corridor with neighboring Australia, but it was closed again at the end of July due to a corona wave down under. The border closings had served as a kind of “collective armament”, said Ardern at a forum entitled “Reconnecting New Zealanders to the World”. The vaccinations now give everyone an “individual armor”, which means that the national borders could be reopened.
Different rules should apply to travelers depending on their country of origin and vaccination status. Fully vaccinated people from low-incidence countries are now planning to return to New Zealand without quarantine. Unvaccinated people and people from high-risk areas, on the other hand, have to remain in isolation for 14 days.
The country with five million inhabitants is regarded worldwide as a model state in the fight against the pandemic. So far, only about 2900 infections have been confirmed, 26 people have died in connection with Covid-19. There have long been major events in New Zealand with tens of thousands of visitors. (08/12/2021)
Israel is tightening the rules
In view of the sharp rise in the number of corona infections, Israel is expanding the application of the so-called green passport to almost all areas of public life. All persons aged three and over must show a certificate stating that they have been vaccinated, recovered or tested negative, as the Corona cabinet decided. This applies, among other things, to sports and cultural events as well as fitness studios, restaurants and conferences. The regulation will apply from next Wednesday.
Events in closed rooms without seats may only be attended by up to 1000 people, outdoors by up to 5000 people. Private events are limited to 50 indoors and 100 outdoors. In stores with more than 100 square meters of sales area, only one customer per seven square meters is allowed from Monday.
Since the beginning of June, the number of infections in Israel has increased significantly again. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health reported 5,755 new infected people. On Monday there were more than 6000 infections in one day for the first time in six months. At the same time, according to the ministry, the number of seriously ill corona patients rose to 400 – the first time since the end of March.
In Israel, more than 58 percent of the roughly 9.4 million Israelis are fully vaccinated. Israel was the first country in the world to start offering a third vaccination to people aged 60 and over. So far, more than 600,000 people have been vaccinated a third time, according to the government. (08/12/2021)
McDonald’s orders vaccination for US office workers
In the USA, the fast-food chain McDonald’s obliges its office workers to vaccinate. In addition, the return of employees to the back office will be postponed from September 7th to October 11th, the company announced. Previously, big tech companies like Google, Uber, and Facebook had issued similar instructions to their employees. The New York Stock Exchange also requires the floor traders to prove that they have had themselves immunized. Because of the highly infectious Delta variant, there is a renewed increase in cases in the USA. (08/12/2021)
Italy wants to vaccinate more young people
Italy wants to speed up vaccinations for children and adolescents before the start of the new school year. Twelve to 18-year-olds should be vaccinated as a matter of priority, writes the government’s Corona special envoy, Paolo Figliuolo, to the regional governments. They should be given priority even if they don’t have a vaccination appointment.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi promised last week that the new school year would begin with face-to-face classes in September. In Italy, 40 percent of the approximately 4.6 million under 19-year-olds have been vaccinated at least once, and around 23 percent have full protection. (08/11/2021)