“We have never been so worried as we are now”, “we are in a very serious emergency situation” and “we will have a really terrible Christmas if we don’t take something against the current trend”. That’s what the president of the Robert Koch Institut said, Lothar Wieler, in a speech at a videoconference last night in Dresden, according to reports from the Dpa.
Covid, Germany, Austria and Slovenia: “Let’s go towards catastrophe”. The virus pushes the boundaries
by Tonia Mastrobuoni
“The estimates are more than bleak,” he added. “Behind the 50,000 registered infections there are at least double or triple the numbers,” he explained. “There is a great emergency in our country and whoever does not see it makes a serious mistake”. There are 65,371 new positive cases from Covid registered in Germany in the last 24 hours from the Robert Koch Institut and 264 deaths. This is a new peak, after yesterday’s 52,826. The weekly index is 336.9 positive on 100 thousand inhabitants. The hospitalization rate has risen to 5.15 patients per 100,000 inhabitants (yesterday it was 4.86).
Netherlands, extended Christmas holidays are expected to slow down cases
Dutch virologists have proposed extending the holidays around Christmas to slow an increase in cases among children that has forced half of schools nationwide to return home. The National Institute for Health (Rivm) this week reported a record of more than 110,000 cases through November 16, a 44% increase from the previous week. The strongest increase was among children between the ages of 4 and 12. Infections among school-age children increased by nearly 85% and by 76% among children between the ages of 10 and 14. With nearly 85% of adults fully vaccinated, more than 20,000 new cases were recorded for two consecutive days this week, the highest so far, leading to a shortage of Covid testing in health centers.
The latest wave began after the government ended social distancing and other measures in September, a decision that has since been overturned. The interim prime minister’s proposal Mark Rutte to exclude the unvaccinated from an indoor event pass, was rejected by the opposition in parliament.
Czech Republic, from Monday no vax out of the premises
The Czech Republic also passes to the toughest measures against Covid and from Monday it will exclude the unvaccinated from restaurants, clubs and public events to counter the advance of the fourth wave. The tests will no longer be sufficient, it will be necessary to prove that they are vaccinated or cured, according to what in Prague is called the “Bavarian model” (the German 2G). The outgoing premier announced the measure yesterday Andrej Babis, whose government will approve the measures today. Yesterday the number of new cases revealed by laboratories in the country reached 22,479, a record since the beginning of the epidemic.
Covid, the last trench is the anti-virus pill. The director of Aifa Magrini: “It will arrive in Italy after Christmas”
by Elena Dusi
Thailand, the Chinese vaccine is coming
Thailand received another batch of vaccines from China. This was reported by the prime minister of Bangkok, Prayut Chan-o-cha, which thanked the People’s Republic for the supply and announced its willingness to cooperate with the country in the research and development of new vaccines. Han Zhiqiang, Beijing’s ambassador to Thailand, renewed the Chinese commitment to favor the economic recovery of the nation, hoping for the collaboration of Bangkok for the safeguarding of “stability and prosperity on a world level”.
France, poll: 60% French in favor of lockdown no vax
60% of the French would be in favor of a lockdown for unvaccinated. This was reported today by a survey by Elabe for BfmTv. Yesterday, 20,294 new positive cases were recorded in the country, a figure twice the average seven days earlier. Also according to the survey, 54% of respondents believe that the epidemic is far from over and that it will resume even more strongly in the coming weeks. Yesterday the government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, had assured that no confinement is currently foreseen.
Russia, more than 1,200 deaths in 24 hours
In Russia during the last day, 1,251 deaths caused by Covid-19 were recorded, the maximum in a day since the beginning of the epidemic: the report Tass citing data from the National Coronavirus Operations Center. According to official data, 37,374 new cases of Covid-19 have been ascertained in the country over the last 24 hours. About 146 million people live in Russia.
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