Enlarge image
Smears in a test center in Berlin, which was set up in a closed bar
Photo: Wolfgang Kumm / dpa
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Family doctors will get more vaccine doses next week - no more AstraZeneca
04.45 a.m.:
The resident doctors in Germany are to receive 500,000 more vaccine doses in the coming week than initially planned.
"Originally around 1.5 million vaccine doses were supposed to go to the practices in the last week of April, three quarters of them Biontech and a quarter AstraZeneca," according to a statement from the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) to the practices according to the newspaper "Rheinische Post" .
Now two million units would be delivered, exclusively vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer.
"Due to the higher delivery quantity, contract doctors can now order 24 to 48 doses for the week from April 26th to May 2nd."
Municipalities welcome softer curfew
03.25 a.m.:
The changes made by the coalition
factions
to the planned nationwide Corona emergency brake are met with approval from the municipalities.
"It is right not to put exit restrictions in place until 10 p.m.," said the chief executive of the Association of Cities and Towns, Gerd Landsberg, of the "Rheinische Post".
"Otherwise people would all have poured into the grocery stores at the same time in the evening."
"It is also right to close schools at incidence values of 165, because 200 would be a damn high number," Landsberg added.
"If we look at the current values, the law means that most schools in Germany will have to close again next week."
The coalition factions had agreed on numerous changes to the planned federal emergency brake by Monday.
Accordingly, among other things, the night curfew should begin an hour later than originally planned.
Unaccompanied jogging or walking should also be allowed until midnight.
Classroom teaching in schools is to be suspended earlier.
Teachers' association for distance learning from an incidence of 100
1:35 a.m.:
The German teachers' association calls for pupils to be sent to distance classes earlier than planned in the fight against the corona pandemic. A seven-day incidence of 200 as a benchmark for school closings, as originally provided for in the federal emergency brake, is far too high. "It is therefore a step forward if the limit is to be lowered to 165 now," said association president Heinz-Peter Meidinger to the newspapers of the Funke media group. "But even an incidence of 165 is still far too high."
One should not forget that the nationwide incidence in the age group between 10 and 19 years is already significantly higher.
"In order to effectively stop the spread of the virus in schools, face-to-face classes must be ended at an incidence of 100," demanded Meidinger.
He has no understanding of why schools are set to a different, coarser standard than in other areas of society.
Enlarge image
Empty classroom in a primary school in Gelsenkirchen
Photo:
Caroline Seidel / dpa
With the amendment to the Infection Protection Act, the federal and state governments want to lay down uniform regulations in the fight against the third wave of corona.
This also applies to schools.
The first draft of the federal government provided that schools would have to switch to distance teaching if the seven-day incidence rises to 200 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants.
However, this threshold is now to be lowered.
According to the decision recommendation of the relevant health committee, which is available to the dpa, schools should switch to distance teaching at an incidence of 165.
Graduating classes and special needs schools should be able to be exempted from stopping school attendance.
The incidence is currently significantly higher in many regions.
The emergency brake is to be passed in the Bundestag on Wednesday.
The Federal Council wants to deal with it on Thursday.
USA drastically increase the highest travel warning level
0.05 a.m.:
The US government has announced an expansion of the highest travel warning level to around 80 percent of all states.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they should be included in the fourth, red level - "Do Not Travel" - because of an "unprecedented risk for travelers".
Currently, 34 of the 200 or so countries fall into this category.
To get to 80 percent, around 130 states would have to be added.
cop / AFP / dpa / Reuters
