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.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS