Rapidly increasing numbers of corona cases and the Omikron variant determine the situation in Europe.
Update from January 2nd, 2022, 3:15 a.m.: The number of corona infections since the beginning of the pandemic has exceeded the mark of one hundred million in Europe up to the Caucasus. In the 52 countries and areas from the Atlantic coast to Azerbaijan and Russia, 100,074,753 infections with the corona virus were reported by the evening of New Year’s Day, according to a calculation by the AFP news agency based on information from the authorities.
That is more than a third of the 288,279,803 corona infections worldwide that have been reported since the outbreak of the pandemic in late 2019. In the past seven days alone, more than 4.9 million infections were reported in the Europe region – 59 percent more than in the previous week. 17 of the 52 countries and territories exceeded their previous highs for corona infections within a week.
Corona: Infected crew members – cruise ship Aida Nova is stuck
+++ 2.45 p.m.: Due to more than 50 crew members who tested positive for Corona, the cruise ship Aida Nova, which has almost 3000 mainly German guests on board over the turn of the year, has been in the port of Lisbon for days. According to the shipping company, the onward journey is currently delayed due to the arrival of important crew members who would have to replace the failed colleagues.
The infected employees were noticed early on during routine checks and were accommodated on land in coordination with the authorities in Lisbon, the German press agency quoted a message from Aida Cruises in Rostock. How to proceed will be decided when the additional crew members have arrived and possible travel options have been checked. According to the shipping company, none of the 2,844 tourists on the ship were infected. According to the information, the cruise guests should leave the ship without restrictions. Many of the passengers spent the turn of the year ashore in the Portuguese capital.
Rising Corona Numbers in Great Britain: Learning to Live “Side by Side” with the Virus
+++ 12.05 p.m.: Despite new record numbers of corona infections in Great Britain, the British Minister of Health Sajid Javid described the introduction of new corona measures as a “last resort” in an interview with the British newspaper Daily Mail. Instead, you have to learn to live “side by side” with the virus. While stricter corona rules currently apply in Scotland and Wales, people in England celebrated New Year’s Eve in clubs, bars and pubs largely without restrictions.
On New Year’s Eve, a total of 189,846 new corona cases were reported in Great Britain, an extremely large proportion already going back to the Omikron variant. Statistics expert Prof. David Spiegelhalter from Cambridge University warned the BBC of an “unprecedented wave of infections”. According to his calculations, the actual numbers could currently be much higher – possibly up to 500,000 new infections per day.
Rising corona numbers in Europe: Italy and Malta are becoming high-risk areas
Update from January 1st, 2022, 7.15 a.m.: The popular holiday countries Italy and Malta have been high-risk areas since Saturday (January 1st, 2022) because of their high number of corona infections. Canada and San Marino in northeastern Italy are now also classified in this way by the federal government. Anyone who enters from a high-risk area and is not fully vaccinated or recovered has to be in quarantine for ten days and can only get rid of it with a negative test five days after arrival at the earliest. The island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, on the other hand, has now been removed from the risk list.
Associated with the classification is a travel warning from the Federal Foreign Office for unnecessary tourist trips. It makes it easier for tourists to cancel trips that have already been booked free of charge, but it does not mean a travel ban.
Countries and regions with a particularly high risk of infection are classified as high-risk areas. But it is not just the infection numbers that are decisive. Other criteria are the speed at which the virus is spreading, the burden on the health system or a lack of data on the corona situation.
Corona in Spain: Incidence exceeds 1000 mark for the first time
First report: Spain says goodbye to 2021 despite a high vaccination rate of around 80 percent with one of the highest corona incidences in Europe. The number of newly recorded infections per 100,000 inhabitants within 24 hours climbed to 1086, as the Ministry of Health in Madrid announced on Thursday evening. This was the first time that the 1000 mark was exceeded. For comparison: In Germany this value was 214.9 on Friday.
In mid-October Spain still had an annual low of around 18. The authorities meanwhile assert that the situation in the hospitals is still largely under control thanks to the high vaccination rate, since the vaccine in most cases ensures infection without symptoms or with a milder course of the disease. Most recently, 8.8 percent of all hospital beds and 19 percent of all intensive care beds in Spain were occupied by Covid patients. These numbers are also climbing, but rather slowly.
Corona: People in Spain want to celebrate a mass party despite more and more new infections
Because of the rapidly increasing number of cases, Spain shortened the duration of isolation this week after an infection with no symptoms and also with mild symptoms from ten to seven days. This also applies to suspected unvaccinated cases. The reduction had been requested by several regional governments and business owners. The aim is to prevent impairment of basic services in hospitals and public transport, for example.
To contain the pandemic, the requirement to wear masks outdoors was reintroduced nationwide. In nine of 17 regions there are 3G rules, curfew or nightly exit restrictions, in others – such as in the capital – there are hardly any restrictions. In Madrid, despite Corona, around 7,000 people wanted to gather in the Puerta del Sol square on Friday evening to welcome the New Year at the most traditional New Year’s Eve mass party in the country. (Talk to agencies)
Headline list image: © Cecilia Fabiano / dpa
