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Nurse with protective equipment in the corona intensive care unit in a Dresden hospital (symbolic image)
Photo: Sebastian Kahnert / DPA
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Lockdown in Sydney will be extended for a further four weeks
04.15 a.m.:
Because the number of corona infections in Sydney is increasing despite the lockdown, the exit restrictions for the Australian metropolis will remain in place for another month. The measures, which have already been in place for five weeks, will be extended until August 28, as the authorities announced on Wednesday. 177 new corona cases have been registered in the past 24 hours.
People were told not to leave their neighborhood. However, people living alone are allowed to form a "single bubble" with another person. "We want to protect our community and make sure that we can recover as quickly as possible," said the head of government of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, the measures. The police will pay more attention to compliance with the regulations. She also called on the population to report violations of the rules.
Australia has so far been able to contain the corona pandemic to a large extent by closing its borders, quickly imposing lockdowns in the event of outbreaks and intensive contact tracing.
However, only around 13 percent of the population is fully vaccinated against the virus.
The number of infections has been increasing for a month due to the highly contagious Delta variant.
Integration officer calls for better multilingual vaccinations
03:01 a.m.:
The integration commissioner of the federal government, Annette Widmann-Mauz, calls for an improved multilingual vaccination offer in the municipalities.
»A multilingual and outreach information and vaccination offer is necessary on site.
There are good examples in the municipalities - from corona pilots who provide information on site, information buses and loudspeaker trucks to mobile vaccination stations, "said the CDU politician of the" Rheinische Post ".
"Every fourth person in Germany has a history of immigration, most of which we reach through German-language media, but we need other channels for people whose knowledge of German is poor," argued Widmann-Mauz.
RKI boss Wieler is sticking to incidence as a »leading indicator«
02.18 a.m.:
In view of the discussion about how to deal with increasing numbers of infections, the head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) Lothar Wieler has, according to a media report, continued to speak out in favor of incidence as a "leading indicator". As the "Bild" reported on Tuesday, the director of the RKI presented a paper at a switching conference between Chancellor Helge Braun and the heads of the state chancelleries on Monday in which he pleaded for the incidence to be adhered to.
With this, Wieler also contradicts Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU), who stated a few weeks ago that the incidence value is becoming less informative.
According to »Bild«, the paper states that prevention »continues to have the highest priority (= low incidence)«.
Accordingly, Wieler also warned that "the fourth wave" had begun.
According to information from the newspaper, most of the country representatives did not agree with Wieler's adherence to the low-incidence strategy.
Participants spoke out against continuing to consider incidence as the most important measure for corona measures.
Officials
doctors advocate
corona
vaccination of children from the age of twelve
1:37 a.m.:
In view of the increasing number of infections, the German medical officers are in favor of vaccinating all children from the age of twelve.
"If the vaccines have been tested, checked and approved, I see no reason not to recommend them for vaccination, even for younger people," said the chairwoman of the Federal Association of Doctors in the Public Health Service, Ute Teichert, the newspapers of the Funke media group.
The incidences are particularly high in the lower age groups.
“That will soon move to the younger groups.
Why shouldn't we protect these age groups from Corona? ”Said Teichert.
“Especially since the boys have a lot of contacts.
So it makes sense to vaccinate them. "
In Germany, the Biontech / Pfizer corona vaccine is approved for children from the age of twelve.
The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) has so far only recommended immunization for young people with certain previous illnesses.
US authorities recommend wearing masks again because of the Delta variant
12:45 a.m.:
Because of the highly contagious Delta variant of the corona virus, the US health authority CDC recommends wearing a mask again in the future.
In some parts of the country, where the virus is spreading particularly strongly, people who have been completely vaccinated should also cover their mouths and noses in public spaces, as the authority announced.
This also applies to schools.
US President Joe Biden called for the new guidelines to be observed.
"More vaccinations and the wearing of masks in the areas hardest hit by the Delta variant will allow us to avoid the kind of lockdowns, closings, school closings and disruptions we faced in 2020." The US would not to revert to these measures.
In May, the CDC no longer considered wearing a mask indoors for a fully vaccinated person to be necessary for the vast majority of situations.
The CDC only makes recommendations.
Ultimately, the US states make their own decisions.
US government is examining
corona
vaccination for employees
12:24 a.m.:
The US government is considering introducing compulsory corona vaccination for its more than two million employees. "This is currently being investigated," said US President Joe Biden when a journalist asked about mandatory vaccination for federal employees. "But if you haven't been vaccinated, you're not nearly as intelligent as I thought," Biden said.
The Democrat Biden has spoken out against a general compulsory vaccination.
The vaccination campaign in the USA is now on the point - and that despite an abundance of vaccines and many vaccination incentives.
Politically, however, even a mandatory vaccination that is limited to government employees could become a sensitive issue: Many Republicans are likely to reject this as an encroachment on individual freedom.
If vaccinations were to become a political issue, it would be even more difficult to convince critical or reluctant Republican supporters to get vaccinated.
jok / AFP / dpa / Reuters
