Concerns are mounting in Germany about a rapidly growing and hard to predict fourth wave of COVID-19 this fall, as the German government is in transition and flatlining vaccination rates lag behind those in the rest of western Europe.
An increasingly mobile population, a largely dismantled pop-up testing infrastructure and reduced staffing at hospitals have led some experts to warn that the government is facing a resurgent virus with less resolve than at previous stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am not relaxed about it,” said Hendrick Streeck, director of the institutes of virology and HIV research at Bonn University. “Capacity at intensive care units is reduced; we may have to factor in another influenza wave. Our grasp of the dynamic behind the infections is not great, but we have higher mobility,” Streeck said.
Mask-wearing remains high in Germany, but COVID-19 vaccinations have stalled. Germany’s disease control agency has warned of a “growing likelihood of infectious contacts” after reporting an incidence rate of 145 new infections per 100,000 residents — the highest recorded since May.
More people in Germany are infected with the virus than at the same point last year: Government’s data show that 205,700 people were infectious on Friday, compared with 131,541 people on Oct. 29 last year.
At 75, the rolling seven-day average of deaths linked to the coronavirus in Germany is also higher than a year ago, when it was 44.
The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care beds is roughly on a par with last year’s levels, with 1,868 patients registered on Friday.
Last fall, cases kept on rising in spite of “lockdown light” restrictions, until hospital bed occupancy peaked, with about 5,700 cases being treated in the first week of January.
The German Ministry of Health said it was confident that clinics would not have to invoke triage, when acute care cannot be provided to every patient in need because of lack of resources.
While levels of compliance with hygiene restrictions such as mask-wearing on public transport is high, Germany and its southern neighbor Austria lag behind other western European nations on vaccination rates.
Sixty-six per cent of Germany’s population is fully vaccinated, compared with 68 percent in France, 71 percent in Italy and 80 percent in Spain.
Unlike some of its neighbors, Germany opted against making vaccination mandatory for specific sectors of industry.
A survey commissioned by the health ministry suggests the rate of vaccinations is unlikely to improve in the near future: Sixty-five percent of those who have so far refused the jab said they would “in no way” take a vaccine in the next two months, while a further 23 percent said they would “probably not” let themselves be immunized.
In spite of the rising numbers, the three parties likely to make up Germany’s next government have agreed in principle to end the “epidemic situation of national relevance” by the end of this month.
However, Nov. 25 would not be a “freedom day,” as celebrated by the British government, say politicians from the Social Democratic Party, which is expected to lead the next government in a coalition with the Greens and the Free Democratic party.
While the parties say that some curbs would remain in place, they have effectively ruled out another nationwide lockdown including school closures and curfews.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages