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Corona test in Thuringia
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Germany has the highest funding deficit since reunification
8.30 a.m.:
Due to the corona crisis, the public budgets in 2020 showed such a large deficit as never before since reunification.
The federal, state, municipal and social security deficit totaled 189.2 billion euros, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Wednesday.
"It is the first deficit since 2013 and the highest since German unification," it said.
In 2019, a surplus of 45.2 billion euros was achieved.
The expenditure grew by 12.1 percent to 1678.6 billion euros.
The increase can mainly be explained by higher allocations as a result of the pandemic, said the Federal Office.
For example, around 17.8 billion euros went from the federal government to the federal states, which were passed on to small businesses and self-employed people as corona aid - of which 14.1 billion euros were emergency aid and 3.7 billion euros were bridging aid.
Around 13 billion euros went to the health fund.
From this, the health insurances received funds to finance benefits for their insured persons.
At the same time, revenue fell by 3.5 percent to 1,489.4 billion euros last year.
One of the main reasons for this was that income from taxes and tax-like charges fell by 3.8 percent to 1308.4 billion euros.
The federal government essentially made up for this deficit by borrowing.
The failures of the states and municipalities were largely offset by allocations from the federal government to the states and from the states to the municipalities.
Corona damages the psyche and nerves
7:25 a.m.:
Corona patients have neurological or psychological problems more often than people with other respiratory diseases.
A British study in the journal "The Lancet Psychiatry" found that the risk was 44 percent higher than after the flu.
The exact reasons for the brain disease and psychiatric consequences are still unclear, said co-author Max Taquet from Oxford University.
Overall, around a third of the patients recorded were affected within six months of their Covid 19 diagnosis.
The British researchers had analyzed data from more than 236,000 patients, most of whom were treated in the United States.
Their most common diagnoses were anxiety disorders in 17 percent and mood disorders in 14 percent.
There have already been studies in the past that have seen a connection between neurological diseases and a corona infection.
However, sick leave due to mental illness has risen in some places as a result of social isolation during lockdowns and quarantines.
In Bavaria, the analysis of insured person data showed that in 2020 people with depression and anxiety were significantly more likely to be absent from work than before.
Pediatricians want to keep schools open as long as possible
7.20 a.m.:
In the discussion about stricter corona rules, paediatricians advocate keeping schools and kindergartens open as long as possible.
"School closings should really be the last option," said the Vice President of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ), Ingeborg Krägeloh-Mann.
Before doing this, all other possibilities should be exhausted in order to reduce contacts.
The Tübingen professor of medicine called for smaller children to be assessed differently than adults and adolescents - because they are probably less involved in the infection process "and are more dependent on face-to-face teaching."
According to Krägeloh-Mann, the currently increasing numbers of corona cases recorded in this age group are due to their increased testing.
This would mean more cases from the unreported number compared to before.
According to the findings of the DGKJ and the Professional Association of Pediatricians (BVKJ) as well as other experts, children and adolescents currently do not contribute more to the infection process than other age groups.
"Access to education and participation are a very valuable asset and should be given a lot of consideration when weighing up the measures against the spread of the pandemic," write the associations.
CDU Economic Council distances itself from Laschet's lockdown demands
06.35 a.m.:
The Economic Council of the CDU reacts critically to the demand of party chairman Armin Laschet for a so-called »bridge lockdown«.
The Secretary General of the Economic Council, Wolfgang Steiger, declared the demand for new extensions or tightening of the restrictions to be unimaginative.
The Augsburger Allgemeine reported this in advance.
"After more than a year of pandemic, companies and citizens expect the federal government and the prime minister to have a more sophisticated strategy," said Steiger.
The current restrictions on fundamental rights are already a heavy burden for business and citizens.
Now it would be a matter of pushing ahead with vaccinations.
South Korea reports the highest increase in new infections since January
04.15 a.m.:
With 668 new coronavirus cases, South Korea reports the highest number of new infections
every
day in three months.
As the national health authority KDCA announced, the increase relates to a new infection cluster.
"Should the fourth wave of infections become a reality, an interruption of the vaccinations would be inevitable and would also deal a severe blow to our economy," said Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun at a government meeting.
The country has so far given over a million vaccine doses to health workers and vulnerable groups since the vaccination campaign began in February.
Curevac founder points out the location disadvantage of European providers
03.35 a.m.:
The founder of the Tübingen pharmaceutical company Curevac, Florian von der Mülbe, points to a location disadvantage of European providers.
According to a preliminary report by the newspapers of the Funke media group, global supply chains are loudly disrupted by the Mülbe.
"Whether chemicals, equipment, filters or hoses: US manufacturers are obliged to meet American demand first, which means we are slipping back on the list," said the Curevac board member.
Since the demand had increased, many suppliers tried to produce the basic materials again in Europe.
Medical president calls for corona policy based on "reliable data"
02.25 a.m.:
The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, calls on politicians to make well-prepared and scientifically designed decisions to contain the corona.
"Far-reaching lockdown measures such as curfews or renewed school closings should not be initiated in a statistical blind flight, but on the basis of clean and reliable data," he told the "Rheinische Post".
"The last federal-state round on the so-called Easter rest has shown that half-baked decisions can cost trust and acceptance in the population," said Reinhardt.
Everyone involved should learn from this.
"The further corona policy in Germany should therefore be discussed with the inclusion of broader expertise from numerous professions in the Bundestag and also legitimized by parliament." These would be "real confidence-building measures that will surely bring us more than quick fixes without sufficient scientific basis."
Regarding the current corona situation, Reinhardt said that the increasing occupancy of the beds in the intensive care units was "a clear warning".
Reliable surveys of new infections are currently not available, "because there may have been fewer or late reports over Easter."
With his statements, Reinhardt responded, among other things, to the demand by NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) for a hard lockdown for a limited period of time.
Laschet would like to decide this if possible at an early Prime Minister's Conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).
So far, the next federal-state round is planned for Monday.
The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) expressed reluctance to Laschet's approach.
"The 'bridge lockdown' that he brought into the discussion in addition to or instead of the lockdown that has been in place since November can only be assessed and interpreted once it is known which measures and periods of time are meant and included," said KBV boss Andreas Gassen of the "Rheinische Post".
SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach told the newspaper that a tough, nationwide lockdown "from now on for at least two weeks" was necessary.
This means that “a moratorium must apply to all opening steps, which expressly includes the model projects in Saarland”.
On Tuesday, the state reopened certain areas such as the outdoor areas of restaurants as well as theaters and cinemas under certain conditions.
Lauterbach demanded, among other things, a nationwide curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and more requirements for the economy.
"The willingness of companies to test is still far too low, we need mandatory testing in all companies with face-to-face work as well as mandatory home office," said the SPD politician.
For the first time, Brazil recorded more than 4,000 corona deaths in one day
1:55 a.m.:
For the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic, more than 4,000 deaths from Covid-19 have been recorded within one day in Brazil.
As the Ministry of Health in Brasília announced on Tuesday (local time), 4,195 more people across the country died in connection with the corona virus within 24 hours.
The number of corona deaths in the country as a whole increased to almost 337,000.
The Brazilian health system is suffering massively from the current wave of infections.
In 18 of the 27 states, according to the Fiocruz Health Institute, more than 90 percent of the intensive care units are occupied.
In almost all of the others, the intensive care units are used at more than 80 percent.
Experts attribute the dramatic infection situation in part to the corona variant P1.
"We are in a dire situation," said epidemiologist Ethel Maciel of Espirito Santo Federal University to the AFP news agency.
She called for an "effective lockdown for at least 20 days."
Given the current vaccination speed, this is the "only way to slow down the extremely rapid spread of the virus."
Around ten percent of Brazilians have received their first dose of corona vaccine so far.
"Unfortunately, politics has brought us to where we are today: to this enormous number of people who have lost their lives," said Maciel.
The dramatic corona situation has plunged President Jair Bolsonaro's government into a serious crisis.
The right-wing radical head of state is facing increasing pressure from allies in parliament and from business to take more effective action against the pandemic.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly played down the threat posed by the virus and criticized the restrictions on public life imposed by the regional authorities.
Last week, Bolsonaro filled six cabinet posts after he had previously appointed what is now his fourth health minister.
In addition, the president appointed three new commanders-in-chief for the army, navy and air force.
In Brazil there is always speculation that Bolsonaro might try to take action against the democratic institutions with the help of the military.
Federal Minister of Justice: equate vaccinated people with those who tested negative
1.05 a.m.:
According to Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht, corona restrictions for vaccinated people should be partially withdrawn.
The SPD politician says in a preliminary report by the "Bild": "If it is now scientifically proven that vaccinated people do not pose a higher risk to others than those who tested negative, an important reason for restricting their basic rights does not apply." logical step to equate vaccinated people with those who tested negative in the future.
Tests would play an important role in the upcoming opening steps, this also applies to vaccinations.
Health politicians are calling for a focus on primary vaccinations
0.45
a.m.: Health politicians from several parties have called for available vaccine doses to be vaccinated quickly instead of being deferred for second vaccinations.
Bavaria's Minister of Health Klaus Holetschek (CSU) is considering changing the vaccination strategy accordingly.
In order to increase the pace of immunizations, he advocates holding back fewer doses for second vaccinations.
As soon as it has been scientifically clarified that the distance between the first and second vaccination can be widened, the countries should implement this, he told SPIEGEL.
Everything that is available must be used for the first vaccination, said the health policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, Sabine Dittmar, the editorial network Germany (RND).
"Now we have to make sure that as many as possible get vaccinated."
The Union health expert Karin Maag also said it was "important that we make faster progress with the first vaccinations." Given the expected increase in delivery quantities, available doses would have to be vaccinated without provisions for the second vaccination.
The FDP health politician Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus pointed out to the RND the unexpectedly high demand for special AstraZeneca vaccination appointments in several federal states.
»The run on AstraZeneca shows one thing: people want to be vaccinated.
That's a very positive sign, ”she said.
The FDP politician called for more vaccination appointments with the AstraZeneca vaccine for volunteers.
"A voluntary vaccination offer means that the bumpy start of vaccination does not stall even further," she said.
On the Easter weekend in North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, around 400,000 appointments for people over the age of 60 who wanted to be vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine were fully booked within a day.
In the district of Northwest Mecklenburg in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the vaccination centers opened without an appointment on Easter Monday to vaccinate leftover AstraZeneca cans.
In cities like Wismar, interested parties arrived here, sometimes two hours before opening, and formed queues hundreds of meters in length.
Söder: Laschet's ›bridge lockdown‹ corresponds to his line
0.30 a.m.:
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder has welcomed the advance of his North Rhine-Westphalian colleague, CDU boss Armin Laschet, for a two to three-week hard lockdown and classified it as a connection to his own positions.
It is important to get out of the loop through very consistent management in combating the corona pandemic.
"If I may put it that way, I have always represented this thesis, and so has the Chancellor," said the CSU chairman and obvious competitor Laschets in the race for the Union parties' candidacy for chancellor.
"Everyone who takes part - I think it's great because it reinforces the basis of those who advocate prudence and caution." Söder commented on the recorded ZDF program "Markus Lanz", the excerpt was shown in advance on Tuesday evening by the "Heute Journal" .
Laschet had proposed on Easter Monday that a "bridge lockdown" be adopted in the fight against the third corona wave.
This should bridge the time until many people are vaccinated.
It is necessary to push the seven-day incidence below 100 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in a renewed "effort".
"It's about two or three weeks."
cop / ire / dpa / asc / AFP / AP / Reuters
