Coronavirus pandemic: ++ WHO urges fair vaccine distribution ++

05:55 am

Thailand announces rules for restarting tourism

A few days before the opening of Thailand to international tourism, the authorities of the Southeast Asian country announced the rules for vacationers in detail. As of Monday, the country will again receive fully vaccinated holidaymakers from 46 countries for quarantine-free holidays – including those looking for relaxation from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

So that the number of infections does not rise again, the holiday guests have to meet some requirements. Interested parties must have stayed in one or more of the 46 countries that the government considers safe for 21 days before departure. In addition, a PCR test carried out a maximum of 72 hours before the flight and one after the arrival in Thailand is required. A reservation for one night in a so-called SHA + hotel is also mandatory, where guests have to wait for the test result. If the result is negative, they can move freely across Thailand from the second day, as Naruechai Ninnart from the Consular Affairs Department emphasized.

The prerequisites also include health insurance, which also covers the holidaymaker’s case of Covid 19 disease, as well as downloading a tracking app (“Mor Chana”) for the duration of the stay. From November 1st, the new “Thailand Pass”, for which travelers have to register, will replace the complicated previous procedure of the “Certificate of Entry”. Children up to and including eleven years of age do not need to show a vaccination if their parents are vaccinated. A vaccination certificate is required for adolescents from the age of twelve. Unvaccinated people continue to have to stay in hotel quarantine for ten days.

05:00 am

Streeck: Going unprepared again in autumn and winter

From the point of view of the virologist Hendrik Streeck, Germany is insufficiently prepared for the next pandemic months. “Unfortunately we are going again very unprepared in autumn and winter,” said the director of the Virology Institute at the University of Bonn to the dpa news agency. “I am not relaxed about it: The capacities in intensive care units are reduced, we can also expect a flu epidemic again if necessary, we do not have a good record of the infection process, but again greater mobility.”

With the wide range of free rapid tests, there was a good mainstay for detecting infections, emphasized Streeck. He now believes that it is wrong to do without it. “You can’t give the advice about vaccination often enough,” said Streeck. The reported infections in vaccinated people are also not an argument against it. “The primary goal of vaccine development was not to trigger an immune response that would protect against any infection. It was always about protecting against severe disease.” Because of so-called breakthrough infections, one can in no way speak of a failure of the vaccines.

Streeck does not currently consider it necessary to expand the range of third-party vaccinations to the general public. “Boosters are useful for the groups to whom this is already recommended,” for example immunocompromised people and people over 70. “After the second vaccination, everyone else is usually very well protected from a severe course. More important than refreshments for them is closing the Vaccine picking for those over 60 years of age. ” The vaccination doses are also needed more urgently in other countries.

04:45 am

DB Regio boss wants mask compulsory in local transport until Easter

DB regional boss Jörg Sandvoss hopes that mask regulations in local public transport will continue to exist in the winter season. “The masks are worn consistently,” he told the dpa news agency. In the summer of 2020 there was an even bigger problem with mask refusers in large cities. “That is gone. The acceptance of the masks is extremely high. That is why it is important for us, if the pandemic situation comes to an end, that there are at least regulations that we maintain the mask requirement in public transport in the winter season until Easter.” At the moment the mask “definitely contributes to the feeling of security.”

Sandvoss sees the return of confidence in being able to use local public transport despite the ongoing pandemic. “We are now at a level of 70, sometimes 80 percent of the pre-Corona time.” In rural areas it is a little less, in the cities, however, there are sometimes more than 80 percent of the passenger volume. “We have invested a lot in additional hygiene and safety,” he emphasized. But the return of passengers is not only reflected in the number of commuters. “On the weekends we are almost back to the level we were before Corona.” Significantly more excursion and leisure traffic is recorded in local traffic.

07:54 am

WHO appeals to G20: Ensure fair vaccine distribution

According to the World Health Organization, the acute corona vaccine shortage in poorer countries threatens the whole world. Before the G20 summit, the WHO therefore appeals to the 20 large industrialized and emerging countries to act as quickly as possible. Caring for the poorest is only a matter of will, said Bruce Aylward, who is on the WHO leadership team for vaccination issues, in Geneva. “Because these 20 countries control the vaccine supply.” The G20 summit with Germany’s participation will take place in Rome over the weekend. The WHO warns that in countries with a low vaccination rate, new virus variants can develop that are so dangerous that previous vaccines and drugs are not effective.

In 82 countries around the world, higher vaccination rates only failed because of a lack of vaccines, said Aylward. It took 550 million vaccine doses for these countries to meet their goal of vaccinating 40 percent of the population by the end of the year.

02:25 am

RKI warns of the increasing risk of contagious contacts

In view of the spread of the corona virus in Germany, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has warned of a growing risk of infection. “With the current seven-day incidence there is an increasing likelihood of infectious contacts,” said the latest weekly report on Thursday evening. It is “strongly recommended” to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and to ensure that you are fully vaccinated. What is meant is that you should also get the second injection, which is provided for almost all corona vaccines.

02:07 am

Patient advocates are calling for more protection for those in need of care

Patient advocates have called for better corona protection for people in need of care in autumn and winter. “The current situation in elderly care is alarming,” said the board of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, the dpa news agency.

The immunization of many very old people is decreasing, at the same time vaccination offers and testing are not making progress. Therefore, the possible future government partners SPD, Greens and FDP would have to ensure that nationwide regulations are added before the targeted end of the special legal situation for corona measures on November 25th.

Brysch called for a protection concept for the 900,000 nursing home residents and binding commitments for one million people in need of care at home who are dependent on outpatient services. Without mandatory daily tests that would have to be organized by the providers, people in the elderly slipped into a disaster. “Therefore, there needs to be a legal right to ensure that people in need of care are only looked after by tested staff.” Vaccinations and tests should not be mutually exclusive here; both must be used in a targeted manner.

1:31 am

Nursing officer: There should no longer be a ban on visits

The federal government’s authorized care representative, Andreas Westerfellhaus, sees Germany in the pandemic difficult weeks ago. Corona will also remain an immense challenge for the population and the health system this winter, said the CDU politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group. In view of the increasing number of corona cases and increased vaccination breakthroughs, it is now important to ensure “that the particularly vulnerable people in the care facilities and the medical staff receive their booster vaccinations quickly”.

The government representative also advised the continuation of corona tests for staff and visitors in care facilities “beyond the turn of the year”. With a view to the infection situation, Westerfellhaus made it clear: “Visiting bans and other serious restrictions must not be repeated, as we had to experience in the first waves of the pandemic.” That is why it is important to have regulations that are as uniform nationwide as possible, “which provide a clear guideline”.

1:20 am

Doctors’ union warns of new bottlenecks in clinics

In view of the rapid increase in new corona infections, the Marburger Bund doctors’ union warns of drastic bottlenecks in hospitals, as in previous high phases of the pandemic. “I do not want to experience again that operations have to be canceled because of Covid-19, because otherwise the supply cannot be managed,” said chairwoman Susanne Johna of the newspapers of the Funke media group.

She emphasized that patients with other serious illnesses also have the right to be treated in hospital without delay. One must act now to prevent renewed supply restrictions in the hospitals. The clinic staff is still in the bones of last winter, said the union. Everything that is added to the already stressful regular operation makes work on the wards even more difficult.

00:05 am

Expert: Because of Corona, operations will have to be canceled again

The President of the Intensive Care Medical Association, Gernot Marx, expects the intensive care units to be exposed to a similarly high level of stress in the intensive care units in the winter as last year. “We do not expect a winter that is very different from the last two,” said Marx to the editorial network Germany. However, he assumes that all patients can be fully cared for. “But operations are being canceled again and nursing staff must be withdrawn from other areas,” he affirmed earlier statements.

At the moment, the intensive care bed occupancy is “again very clearly following the incidence,” said Marx. “In contrast to the previous pandemic waves, this autumn will need a higher incidence before the intensive care beds are occupied with comparable levels – because many people have already been vaccinated.” The reduced number of intensive care beds is also a reason for his worries.

07:54 am

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