Live blog
Status: 07/18/2021 02:12 a.m.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s head of government Schwesig is in favor of new benchmarks for assessing the corona situation. Minister of Economic Affairs Altmeier rules out a new lockdown. The developments in the live blog.
- Schwesig also for new “warning value”
- Report: No mass vaccinations planned for teenagers in the UK
- Altmaier rules out further lockdown
- Netherlands and Greece now corona risk areas
02:12 am
Schwesig also for new “warning value”
After the Rhineland-Palatinate head of government Malu Dreyer, the Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Manuela Schwesig, is pushing for a new “warning value” to assess the corona situation. “I expressly support the proposal that the federal and state governments agree on a new national warning value for the corona situation,” said the SPD politician in the newspapers of the Funke media group. “In the future, we must take greater account of vaccinations and hospital burdens.” Schwesig referred to the traffic light model applicable in her state, which takes into account the seven-day incidence, the number of Covid patients in the hospital and the utilization of the intensive care units.
Dreyer had previously called for a “new warning value” to assess the corona situation in Germany. With increasing vaccination rates, the seven-day incidence is much less informative today than it was six months ago. This incidence value indicates the number of infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week. So far, it has been the basis for many corona restrictions during the pandemic, for example for the federal emergency brake that expired at the end of June. However, the federal government has already announced that further values such as hospital admissions will be given greater consideration in the future.
1:36 am
Netherlands and Greece now corona risk areas
Due to the sharp rise in the number of corona infections, the Netherlands, Greece and parts of Denmark have been risk areas for the German authorities since midnight. According to the announcement from the Robert Koch Institute published on Friday, the Federal Foreign Office advises against tourist trips to these countries and regions.
For the Netherlands and the Danish capital region around Copenhagen, this also has practical consequences: Anyone who enters Germany by land from there and has not been vaccinated or recovered must take a corona test again. The Faroe Islands, which are part of the Kingdom of Denmark, are now also risk areas. The Netherlands is the first of Germany’s nine neighboring countries to be fully classified as a risk area again. Overseas territories belonging to the kingdom are excluded.
In Greece, the number of infections has recently risen since the government eased measures for nightlife and many young, as yet unvaccinated people go out to party. Anyone returning from vacation in Greece must either be tested, recovered or vaccinated.
01:01 am
Altmaier rules out further lockdown
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) has ruled out a new lockdown. “We must and will prevent a new lockdown. It would be devastating for many shops and restaurants that have been closed for months,” Altmaier told “Bild am Sonntag”. The minister currently sees no need for further measures. “As long as there is no threat of overloading the health system, there is no reason for new measures or even a lockdown.” Vaccinated or younger people usually have no symptoms at all in the event of an infection, and the intensive care bed capacity in Germany is far from its utilization limit.
July 17, 2021 • 11:37 pm
Report: No mass vaccinations planned for teenagers in the UK
In Great Britain, according to a media report, only previously ill children and adolescents should be vaccinated against Corona. The Telegraph reported that Britain had decided against mass vaccination of teenagers. According to this, only sick children between the ages of twelve and 15 and adolescents who are almost 18 years old should receive the corona vaccine. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) reportedly advised ministers against mass vaccination of all children until further data on possible risks were available. The British Ministry of Health announced that a decision has not yet been made.