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Vaccination pass checks when shopping in Munich
Photo: Mychelle Vincent / aal.photo / imago images / aal.photo
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Bavaria's Interior Minister Herrmann: There are clear rules for corona protests
6.16 a.m.:
Bavaria Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) has announced tough action against violent protests against the corona policy. "Of course, it is part of freedom of expression and assembly that opponents of corona measures and critics of mandatory vaccination can demonstrate," said the new chairman of the conference of interior ministers to the newspapers of the Funke media group. But there are clear rules that everyone must adhere to. "Acts of violence in any form are completely unacceptable and are being pursued by the police with full force."
With a view to the participants' strategy of referring to the elevators as mere "walks" in order to evade the rules of the right of assembly, the minister said that district authorities could issue general decrees for specific assemblies with restrictions, for example with regard to place, time or maximum number of participants.
"If the participants in the so-called walks violate the regulations, they must expect heavy fines."
»One thing is clear: Anyone who adheres to the regulations governing infection protection and assembly law can demonstrate without restriction.
Anyone who violates this must expect consequences, «said Herrmann.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser made a similar statement on Tuesday.
“The right of assembly applies, of course.
And I'm sure that the security authorities will implement it everywhere, ”said the SPD politician to the ARD capital studio.
"And when violence happens, of course we take action." Threats and violence could not be tolerated.
RKI registered 58,912 new corona infections - incidence at 258.6
5.20 a.m.:
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has again reported an increase in the official nationwide seven-day incidence.
The RKI gave the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week on Wednesday morning at 258.6.
It has been increasing from day to day since the end of December, although the RKI continues to assume that new infections will be under-recorded due to fewer tests and reports in the course of the holidays and vacations.
The health authorities in Germany reported 58,912 new corona infections to the RKI within one day.
According to the new information, 346 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours.
A week ago there were 414 deaths.
Number of accidents at work due to home office has fallen
5.00
a.m.: As a result of the corona pandemic, the number of work and commuting accidents has decreased significantly. That emerges from the annual report of the Federal Ministry of Labor on safety and health at work, which is available to Reuters and which is to be decided by the federal government this Wednesday. Accordingly, there were around 34,000 or 18 percent fewer reportable accidents on the way to work in the first corona year of 2020. The number of work accidents fell by 115,000 or 12.3 percent.
"Home office not only improves the compatibility of family and work, but also reduces the risk of accidents on the way to and from work," said Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) of the Reuters news agency.
»This is one of the reasons why we will strengthen the right to work from home for employees in this legislature.
In the future, requests for home office cannot simply be arbitrarily refused. "
However, the corona pandemic also doubled the number of recognized occupational diseases.
Recognition of Covid-19 as an occupational disease is possible for employees in the health care or welfare sector.
"This is clearly reflected in (...) the recognitions," says the report: The number of recognized occupational disease cases has risen by 93.7 percent to 39,551.
According to the Justice Minister, vaccination status should not be a decisive criterion in triage
4.15 a.m.:
From the point of view of Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, whether someone is vaccinated against Covid-19 or not must not play a decisive role in the distribution of scarce medical resources.
“I strongly advocate that everyone who can get vaccinated.
But we cannot simply exclude people who do not do that from life-saving measures, "said the FDP politician of the dpa news agency.
He is therefore of the position that the vaccination status "cannot be a decisive criterion" in a triage decision.
The minister went on to say that this is how he also understands the Federal Constitutional Court.
In addition, this is the prevailing opinion among medical professionals.
"The decisive criterion must be the clinical chances of success in terms of survival of the current disease," stressed Buschmann.
Triage is a medical decision as to who will receive intensive care treatment when capacities are exhausted and who will not.
There are recommendations from the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (Divi).
At the end of December, however, the Federal Constitutional Court called for a statutory regulation.
The Karlsruhe court ruled that the Bundestag must take precautions "immediately" to protect people with disabilities in the event of triage.
»Golden Globe« award without an audience and without a red carpet
2.01 a.m.:
The awarding of the Golden Globes on Sunday (January 9th) will take place without an audience and without the usual reception on the red carpet.
This was announced by the Association of Foreign Press (HFPA).
The winners of the 79th Golden Globe Awards are to be announced during an evening event in the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Because of the corona pandemic, only selected guests should be admitted, including members of the association.
Those in attendance must provide proof of vaccination and negative tests, wear masks and keep their distance.
As part of the announcement of the winners, the association also wants to present its philanthropic work and donation recipients and address reforms with a view to more diversity and equality.
Street carnival in Rio canceled again
1.51 a.m.:
The Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro has canceled the world-famous street carnival for the second time in a row due to the corona pandemic. Mayor Eduardo Paes announced the decision after a meeting with representatives of carnival groups in a broadcast on social media on Tuesday (local time). The reason given was that admission controls and compliance with other corona measures at the street carnival, for which hundreds of groups had registered in Rio, were practically impossible. According to Brazilian television, the mayor's decision was well received by the groups known as "Blocos", despite mourning over the failure of the street festival.
According to the news portal "G1", the Carnival in Rio in its last edition in 2020 attracted more than three million people to the streets within four days.
The plans for the legendary parades in the Sambodrome in February and March will be upheld for the time being.
There controls to protect against infection are easier to implement, said Paes.
In Brazil, according to official information, more than 22 million of the country's 210 million residents have been infected with the corona virus.
Around 618,000 patients have died in connection with Covid-19 - there are only more deaths in the USA.
As the vaccination campaign progressed, the number of new deaths fell sharply, and optimism grew, especially in Rio.
Almost 70 percent of the Brazilian population are now fully vaccinated.
Lauterbach wants to propose stricter measures at the federal-state round
1.32 a.m.:
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) wants to enforce stricter contact restrictions in addition to shortened quarantine times at the federal-state consultations on the corona pandemic on Friday.
"Unfortunately, tightening will be necessary in order to counter the heavy wave that is coming our way," Lauterbach told the editorial network in Germany.
"I will make suggestions on this."
He did not give details, but emphasized that there was no reason to give the all-clear, especially for unvaccinated people.
“You cannot promise them that the contact restrictions will be lifted for them in the short or medium term,” says Lauterbach.
"My appeal to the unvaccinated is that they get vaccinated at least once quickly, so that they have at least an important protective effect for the very serious course of the disease."
The SPD politician defended his attempt to shorten the quarantine with a view to the Omikron variant of the virus.
"Studies show that the generation time - including the phase in which the virus spreads in the body and the phase in which a person is contagious - is much shorter with Omikron," he explained.
"So we can shorten the quarantine period to a certain extent without taking any risks."
The considerations are also aimed at keeping important supply areas running even if the number of infections should increase by leaps and bounds.
Lauterbach named in particular hospitals, care for the elderly as well as the police, fire brigade and the water and electricity supply.
New quarantine and isolation rules are required for these areas.
School and travel also need to be considered, he said.
Education minister
calls for schools not to be closed
1.26 a.m.:
Federal Minister of Education Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) appealed to the education ministers of the federal states before the conference of ministers of education this Wednesday to continue to refrain from school closings despite fears of exploding numbers of infections due to the much more contagious Omikron variant of the corona virus. "I very much hope that the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs will speak out in favor of keeping schools open with Omikron," she told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung".
Stark-Watzinger promised: "As a federal government, we will support everything that is necessary to make this possible." The schools are "largely safe" places through testing, wearing masks and hygiene measures.
They had a "stabilizing effect and have so far not been a driver of pandemics," said Stark-Watzinger.
In spite of Omikron, face-to-face teaching must have "absolute priority".
Lauterbach only wants bonuses for a limited group of nurses
0.15
a.m.: Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wants to grant the planned care bonus only to a limited group of care workers.
"The care bonus should be paid primarily to care workers who were particularly exposed to the corona pandemic," said the SPD politician to the editorial network in Germany.
"Then the bonus can also be set in a significant amount." This is the only way to appreciate the special performance of nursing staff, some of whom have also "taken personal risk".
The SPD, Greens and FDP have stated in their coalition agreement that there should be a corona bonus for care workers.
The traffic light government wants to provide one billion euros for this.
nck / AFP / dpa / Reuters
