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Corona news on Friday: the most important developments on Sars-CoV-2 and Covid-19

2021-01-08T05:10:38.722Z


The health authorities register a new high in deaths. And: World Medical Association boss Montgomery criticizes the federal states for the corona vaccinations. The overview.


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Test center in Hamburg-Harburg

Photo: Andre Lenthe Fotografie / imago images / Andre Lenthe

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Göring-Eckardt: The government must do more to combat infections at work

5:15 a.m.:

Green parliamentary leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt has appealed to the federal government to do more to prevent corona infections in the workplace.

"Above all, open-plan offices are risk areas," Göring-Eckardt told the newspapers of the Funke media group.

Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) must therefore send "a clear signal to inconsistent employers" who refuse to work from home without any urgent need.

The previous “half-hearted request” by the federal government to employers to enable home office is not enough: “It must finally be made clear that - wherever possible - a right to work from home applies,” said the Green politician.

Companies that refused to work at home for their employees without an urgent reason violated the duty of care and occupational safety and risked a fine.

"It is extremely dangerous that the federal government does not dare to do more to prevent infections in the workplace," said Göring-Eckardt.

It should not be left to the employees to "laboriously fight for" their right to work from home.

Australia tightened entry and lockdown measures

4:50 a.m.:

To contain the variant of the

corona virus

that first appeared in Great Britain, Australia is tightening its entry and lockdown regulations.

Before taking a flight to Australia, travelers would now have to show a negative corona test, said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

In some states, the upper limit for travelers will be reduced by half by February 15.

In Australia's third largest city, Brisbane, there will be a three-day curfew from 6 p.m. on Friday evening, announced the Prime Minister of Queensland, Annastacia Palaszczuk.

An employee of a quarantine hotel in Brisbane previously tested positive for the British variant.

Montgomery criticizes countries for organizing corona vaccination

4.40 a.m.:

World Medical Association boss Frank Ulrich Montgomery, has criticized the federal states for the corona vaccinations and at the same time praised Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU).

"The federal states have completely different regulations on how those eligible for vaccination come to an appointment," said Montgomery of the "Rheinische Post".

That creates confusion and anger.

"I think the scheduling of appointments on the general number 116117 is poorly regulated," said Montgomery, and called for a uniform approach.

From the outset there should have been a nationwide identical route to vaccination appointments via telephone and an Internet platform, added the medical officer.

The countries did not organize that well, as it now turns out.

At the same time, Montgomery defended the Federal Minister of Health against persistent criticism.

"Jens Spahn is not to blame for the shortage of the vaccine," said Montgomery.

"For his previous actions in the corona crisis, he gets a straight A from me."

In retrospect, the EU may have been able to order more vaccine doses from Biontech.

At the time of the negotiations, however, the company's lead was not apparent, said Montgomery.

He criticized the SPD's catalog of questions to Spahn.

“The SPD will fall on its feet for turning so sharply against Jens Spahn.

You cannot do the work of government and opposition at the same time. "

The catalog of questions on vaccine procurement submitted by Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) had also caused anger in the CDU.

Spahn is criticized for the fact that the EU no longer ordered vaccines from Biontech and Pfizer last year.

Verdi calls on health care workers to have a corona vaccination

04.13 a.m.:

The Verdi union calls on health workers to get vaccinated against the

corona virus

.

You should do this "as soon as possible," said Verdi board member Sylvia Bühler of the "Rheinische Post".

Analyzes showed an increased occupational corona infection risk in the clinic and care sector, she said.

"After weighing up all the chances and risks, it is advisable to get vaccinated for reasons of self-protection and the protection of your own family, unless serious health reasons speak against it," says Bühler.

However, there should not be any compulsory vaccination for certain occupational groups.

For the vaccination measures, "significantly more persuasion must be done," demanded Bühler.

Politicians and employers in the health sector must "actively and transparently provide information about all aspects of vaccination in order to remove the basis of mistrust and rumors."

England requires a negative corona test from travelers

03.22 a.m.:

A negative corona test is mandatory for entries to England from next week.

All travelers arriving by plane, train or ship must present appropriate proof, which must not be older than 72 hours, as the British Transport Minister Grant Shapps announced on Friday night.

The measure is intended to prevent the spread of new corona variants.

Those who cannot prove a test have to pay a fine of 500 pounds on the spot.

There are exceptions for truck drivers, children under the age of eleven and those traveling from Ireland.

The announcement only affects England, but similar measures are to follow for the rest of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

"We have already taken significant steps to prevent imported cases of Covid-19, but with the international spread of new strains of the virus, we need to take further precautions," Shapps said.

Tests before departure are another defense measure, in addition to the mandatory self-isolation after entering from another country.

Because of the lockdown in Great Britain, there is currently little international travel anyway.

Many other countries have long required a negative corona test as a prerequisite for entry.

More than 200,000 corona deaths in Brazil

1:18 a.m.:

In Brazil, the number of corona deaths has exceeded the 200,000 mark.

This came from data from the Ministry of Health in Brasília on Thursday.

Compared to the previous day, 1,524 new deaths were recorded, bringing the total number since the outbreak of the pandemic to 200,498.

There were also 87,843 new infections - since the first confirmed case in Brazil at the end of February, according to the ministry, 7,961,673 people have been infected with the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen.

Only in the USA have more deaths been registered than in Brazil; after the USA and India, the largest and most populous country in Latin America has the most infections.

The actual numbers in Brazil could be much higher, partly because the country does very little testing.

Brazil has 210 million inhabitants and is 24 times the size of Germany in terms of area.

The number of deaths and new infections had meanwhile decreased and corona measures were relaxed.

Stricter corona rules come into force in Hamburg

00.02 a.m.:

Hamburg was the first federal state to put a stricter corona regulation into force at midnight.

The health authority published the changed rules on the Internet on Thursday evening.

Accordingly, the Hamburgers will have to further restrict their contacts from Friday.

Members of one household are only allowed to meet one person in another household.

So far, contacts have been limited to five people from a maximum of two households.

Unlike before, there are no longer any exceptions for children.

In neighboring Lower Saxony, the contact restriction to two people should only apply from Sunday, in Schleswig-Holstein from Monday.

The tightened lockdown is limited to the end of January.

With the new ordinances, the federal states are implementing the resolutions of the Prime Ministers and Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) on Tuesday in state law.

The aim is to get a grip on the still high number of infections.


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ptz / cop / dpa / AFP / Reuters

Source: spiegel

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