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Corona rapid test center in Berlin
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Charity: British museums are threatened with extinction
03.20 a.m.:
The restrictions due to the corona pandemic are increasingly
causing problems
for British museums and galleries.
Several art venues were struggling to survive financially, said the independent charity Art Fund.
More help is needed to support smaller museums in particular.
An emergency fund could only support 15 percent of the applicants.
There are currently 2.23 million pounds of aid available - for applications totaling more than 16 million pounds (about 18 million euros).
Prominent sculptor Anish Kapoor said museums were facing great difficulties.
"Our latest research has shown that six out of ten museums, galleries and historic houses fear for their future," said Art Fund boss Jenny Waldman.
"Tragically, well-known and popular museums are facing a temporary or permanent closure."
The Florence Nightingale Museum in London recently announced that it would close for the time being.
"The pandemic brought us to our knees," said museum director David Green.
He said there was a certain irony that his house was closing - Florence Nightingale was the founder of modern nursing, her teachings are also followed in the corona pandemic.
Rio Carnival is canceled this year
3:05 a.m.:
Rio de Janeiro has completely canceled its carnival, which has been postponed to July due to the corona pandemic, for this year.
The mayor of the Brazilian metropolis, Eduardo Paes, said it was »nonsensical« to continue to hope that the conditions for the carnival would exist in July.
According to him, the next official carnival celebrations in Rio will not take place again until next year.
"In 2022 - if we are all properly vaccinated - we can celebrate life and our culture with all the intensity they deserve," said Paes.
At the same time, he offered financial aid to all the people and associations who had worked for months to prepare for the carnival.
The world famous Rio Carnival usually takes place in February or March.
Because of the corona pandemic, the samba schools, which organize the magnificent parades, decided in September to postpone the 2021 carnival to July.
In doing so, they had relied on the development and delivery of vaccines.
Paes now called it "impossible" to organize the carnival amid the continuing spread of the virus.
Brazil has the world's highest death toll from the corona pandemic after the USA.
More than 213,000 deaths related to corona infections have already been registered in the South American country.
Duchess Kate praises nurses for their commitment
02.35 a.m.:
Duchess Kate has praised the nursing staff for their work in the corona pandemic.
"You keep hearing about the amazing things that nurses do across the country that go one step further," said Prince William's wife during a video call with nurses in Coventry, the palace announced on Thursday evening.
“And there are things that are not part of the training or that are taught to you, but things that come from the heart.” That is what counts: “This kindness for the patients you care for and their relatives are not there can."
Kate also emphasized the role of the nurses in the mass vaccination.
The Duchess is the patron of a campaign that works to improve the image of nursing staff.
In Coventry, Margaret Keenan, then 90, became the first British woman to receive a vaccination against the coronavirus in December.
Disaster relief workers do not anticipate a triage situation in the foreseeable future
02.20 a.m.:
The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief is not
expecting
a situation in which doctors have to decide between patients when it comes to access to ventilators.
President Armin Schuster warned against scare tactics in connection with media reports about so-called corona triages.
"Contrary to some media reports, there are no triages in a German hospital," Schuster told the Rheinische Post and the Bonn General-Anzeiger.
In a pandemic, resources in hospitals such as ventilators could become scarce.
If these devices have to be distributed to patients, this distribution system is called triage according to defined criteria.
The word comes from the French verb "trier", which means "sort" or "choose".
If the necessary corona rules are heeded, "triaging" - known from military medicine - is no longer necessary, said Schuster.
His office, based in Bonn, has an overview of the situation in German hospitals and receives daily updates on free capacities for intensive care beds and ventilators nationwide.
Schuster also told the newspapers that a third wave of infections was possible even after extensive vaccination.
All Germans who wanted this could still be vaccinated in 2021: “But we shouldn't underestimate the risk of a third wave.
Even if we vaccinate very well, it could lead to a certain carelessness too soon. "
Thousands of pubs and restaurants in the UK broke due to Corona
02.20 a.m.:
According to a study, the corona pandemic has ruined thousands of pubs, bars and restaurants in Great Britain.
The bottom line is that almost 6,000 companies have closed, according to the management consultancy AlixPartners and the industry analyst CGA.
That is about three times as many as in 2019. The main reason is the corona restrictions with bans on celebrations and social events.
"Unfortunately, it is inevitable that it will hit thousands more," said Karl Chessell of CGA.
The industry association UK Hospitality was alarmed.
"The loss of 6,000 operations is a terrible blow to the industry, but that's only the tip of the iceberg if we stick to our course," said association chief Kate Nicholls with.
According to a survey, every fifth company has no reserves to get through February.
Nicholls asked for more financial support, especially rents were a big burden.
"Keeping businesses alive and protecting jobs is vital and will be key to post-pandemic recovery," said Nicholls.
CGA expert Chessell was nevertheless optimistic and referred to the progress in mass vaccinations.
"People are dying to go out to eat and drink again, and we can be sure that visitor numbers and sales will return when the industry can finally reopen," he said.
However, the outlook remains bleak.
Scientists are already calling for bars and restaurants to close until at least May.
Otherwise there is a risk that new infections will skyrocket again if restaurants are opened too quickly.
Fauci speaks of a "liberating feeling" among Biden
1:10 a.m.:
At his first briefing on behalf of the new US administration, leading virologist Anthony Fauci spoke about his difficult relationship with former President Donald Trump.
It was "liberating" for him to be able to speak about the scientific findings on the corona pandemic without worrying about possible negative "repercussions", Fauci told journalists in the White House.
The virologist had repeatedly drawn Trump's displeasure with his assessments of the pandemic.
Fauci, who is the head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, was a former member of Trump's advisory board.
Now he is advising Biden, who took up office on Wednesday.
Fauci said the new government wants to base all of its actions against the pandemic on "science and evidence."
The previous government, on the other hand, had distributed "unpleasant" messages that were not based on scientific facts, such as the recommendation of the anti-malarial agent hydroxychloroquine against corona infection.
The virologist noted that he could now “let science speak” was “somehow a liberating feeling”.
Corona test when traveling to France is also mandatory for EU citizens
0.30 a.m.:
European travelers will also have to show a negative corona test when entering France in the future.
This PCR test must not be older than 72 hours, it was said after an EU video summit from Élysée circles.
The regulation applies from Sunday at midnight.
Exceptions are provided for "essential" trips - this applies above all to cross-border commuters and the movement of goods.
It was initially unclear whether other reasons for travel would be considered exceptions.
Because of the new coronavirus variants, France had recently tightened border controls.
It already applies that when entering France from countries outside the European Union, a negative corona test is due.
The travelers should also isolate themselves for seven days.
France had already emphasized at the beginning of the week that it wanted to campaign for health controls at European borders at the digital EU summit.
Interior Ministry fears radicalization of the "lateral thinker" scene
0.10 a.m.:
The federal government fears a further radicalization of the "lateral thinker" scene.
This emerges from the response of the Federal Ministry of the Interior to a request from the Greens, which the editorial network Germany reports on.
"Since the beginning of the corona crisis, right-wing extremists have been actively trying to take advantage of the displeasure among demonstration participants from the esoteric or conspiracy-ideological milieu about the measures to protect against infection and about restrictions on public and economic life," it says.
It cannot be ruled out that esotericists and conspiracy ideologues may adopt radical ideas.
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