Coronavirus News on Thursday: The most important developments regarding Sars-CoV-2 and Covid-19

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German companies plan job cuts

7:26 am: According to the ifo Institute, almost a fifth of German companies plan to cut jobs in the wake of the crisis. Eighteen percent of companies wanted to fire employees or not extend fixed-term contracts, the institute said, citing their April survey. 46 percent of companies wanted to postpone investments, nearly 50 percent would do short-term jobs.

One warns of undemocratic retaliation

6:59 am: United Nations warns against abuse of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic by undemocratic retaliation. “The crisis can provide a pretext for coercive measures that have nothing to do with the pandemic,” said Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations. In some societies, hate speech would increase and minorities would become the target of aggression.

The number of infected people is increasing.

6:35 am: According to the Robert Koch Institute, the number of infected people in Germany increases from 2352 to 148046. The institute reports 215 new deaths. A total of 5094 people have killed Covid-19.

World medical president considers legal mask requirement incorrect

6:00 am: World Medical President Frank Ulrich Montgomery criticized the mask requirement that has now been decided for all of Germany in the fight against the coronavirus. “I myself wear a mask, out of courtesy and solidarity, but I consider a legal obligation to be incorrect,” said Montgomery of the “Rheinische Post” in Düsseldorf.

Because: “Anyone who wears a mask surely thinks they are forgetting the only decisive minimum distance,” emphasized the doctor. Masks can be dangerous if used incorrectly. The virus is concentrated in the fabric, when you lose weight you touch the skin of your face, you can hardly get infected faster.

From Montgomery’s point of view, there should only be one legal mask requirement for actual masks of protection; a requirement for scarves or shawls is “ridiculous”. At the same time, he noted that “truly effective masks” are still needed for medical personnel, nurses and people at risk. He sarcastically posed the question, “But what can you do with rational arguments against excessive competition from federal state politicians?”

Health insurance companies criticize Spahn

5:36 am: Health insurance companies criticize Health Minister Jens Spahn’s (CDU) plan to continue passing the costs of Corona testing on legal health insurance even with the planned massive expansion. Although the goal of the law is to be welcomed to allow rapid tests across the country, AOK Federal Association chief Martin Litsch told newspapers in “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (RND / Thursday edition). “But it is also clear that this is a measure for general civil protection. Protection against infections and epidemics are part of the security system, for which federal states are generally responsible for tasks and expenses,” said the head of the association. Therefore, the transfer of costs to the cash registers is “legally questionable”.

Briefly optimistic about travel between Austria and Germany

5:31 am: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been confident that traveling again between Austria and Germany will be possible again. “Of course, it is the goal that we travel the borders again,” Kurz said on the ARD talk show “Maischberger.” Both countries are on the right track to contain the coronavirus, and this is the prerequisite for a resurgence of tourism. He did not give an exact time for the opening of borders.

He briefly reaffirmed that exit restrictions in Austria should largely expire in late April. Then reunions with family and friends are possible again. According to Kurz, the personal responsibility of citizens to comply with the new rules, such as keeping a distance and using mouth protection, will be of central importance.

The Austrian head of government did not consider the allegations that ski resorts like Ischgl played a central role in the spread of the virus in parts of Europe. Do not believe in guilt. There are various theories and studies on the spread of the virus, and one assumes that the virus has spread mainly from Munich. In the event of misconduct in the Ischgl case, the punishment of those responsible is evident, Kurz said. (Read a review of the program here).

Harvard University forgoes $ 1 million aid in crown crisis

05:04: After severe criticism from the President of the United States, Donald Trump, the elite Harvard University renounces the aid of millions of millions in the crown crisis. The world-famous university on the east coast of Massachusetts said it would inform the appropriate Washington state ministry that it would not claim the $ 8.6 million in funds.

Trump had asked Harvard University to withdraw aid. “I want Harvard to return the money, okay?” He said Tuesday at the White House. “And if they don’t, we’ll do something else.” Aid is targeted at workers, “not one of the richest institutions in the world.”

The amount previously allocated to Harvard University comes from the United States government’s over $ 2 billion crown relief package. It provides nearly $ 31 billion in aid to schools and universities.

Harvard University had initially announced that it would use 100 percent of Corona aid to support students in financial difficulties as a result of the corona crisis. After giving up Corona’s aid, the university assured that it would continue to provide the student support it had promised.

Harvard University is considered the richest university in the world. According to the student newspaper “The Harvard Crimson”, the endowment of the university last year was almost $ 41 billion. However, due to the Corona crisis, it is now probably a few billion dollars lower.

Lent of Ramadan begins under crown conditions

04:04: In the midst of the Corona crisis, the fasting month of Ramadan begins for Muslims. Due to crown restrictions and curfews, this year there will be no post-sunset meetings or evening prayers at the mosque in many countries. Traveling to the holy cities of Islam is also not possible, the mosques are closed.

Religious authorities in many countries support the restrictions and ask believers to pray at home and not meet in larger groups. Saudi Arabian authorities banned pilgrimages to Mecca. And the hajj, the great annual pilgrimage in late July, is likely to be canceled this year as well.

Brazil’s health minister wants to relax crown measures

3:54 am: The new Brazilian Minister of Health, Nelson Teich, announced a relaxation of restrictions on public life in the Corona crisis. He said the government plans to provide a city and state guide within a week. “It is impossible for a country to survive a year, a year and a half if it stops,” Teich said. “Social distancing is a natural and logical measure at first, but it cannot be used without an exit plan.”

He explained that even if the number of people infected with the coronavirus in Brazil was one hundred times greater than the 43.5,000 officially administered by the Ministry of Health, these four million people would only correspond to two percent of a population of 208 million people. . Teich did not respond to the critical situation in the city of Manaus in the Amazon region, for example, where the health system has already collapsed and a refrigerated container was installed in front of a large hospital to store corpses.

President Jair Bolsonaro had appointed the oncologist to succeed Luiz Henrique Mandetta last Thursday. The latter had been dismissed in the dispute over the correct management of the coronavirus. While Mandetta, like several governors and mayors, called for exit restrictions and protection measures, right-wing populist Bolsonaro considers the measures to be excessive and wants to return to normalcy as quickly as possible. As a result, numerous Bolsonaro supporters took to the streets on Sunday and called for the intervention of the armed forces.

According to the Vaccination Alliance, the Corona vaccine should initially be in the public domain.

03:41: The international vaccine alliance Gavi calls for early international agreements on the future distribution of a coronavirus immunization. So there should be rules for the order of vaccines, but also for fair international distribution, Gavi managing director and epidemiologist Seth Berkley said in a video link to German journalists. He expects a vaccine to be available in 12 to 18 months. Hopefully and the regulatory requirements already simplified, things could go faster.

Berkley asked that a future vaccine become public property for some time. “Of course, I am not responsible for policy making, but we must remember to view that vaccine as a global public good.” Therefore, the public sector must also finance development, production and distribution, at least for a time. After that, the vaccine can go back to commercial producers.

Since its founding 20 years ago at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Gavi vaccination alliance has vaccinated more than 760 million children and saved more than 13 million lives. The Federal Government recently supported it with a promise of 600 million euros,

The G20 analyzes the strengthening of international investment

3:11 am: The G20 working group on trade and investment will hold a virtual meeting to take steps to mitigate the economic consequences of restrictions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. In particular with a view to global trade, investment and supply chains, the strengthening of international investment will be discussed. The informal alliance of 19 industrialized and emerging countries, as well as the European Union, announced that they should accelerate economic recovery and secure the supply chain of essential medical aid goods and equipment.

Trump signs decree suspending immigration to the United States

2:00 p.m .: United States President Donald Trump has signed the announced temporary suspension of immigration to the United States. He said Wednesday night (local time) at the White House in Washington. The President of the United States justified the move again by saying that jobs and medical resources must be saved in the face of the crown crisis for Americans. “First we want to take care of our citizens, we have to do it.” In truth, it is likely a diversion to mask the flaws of the Trump administration.

On Tuesday, Trump had stated that the restriction will initially apply to 60 days and essentially affects people who struggled to keep a green card. It does not apply to temporary residence permits.

These measures are intended to alleviate the consequences of the crisis in Germany

1:45 am: Union leaders and the SPD decided, after lengthy negotiations in the late afternoon, a new package of measures against the massive effects of the crown crisis: from short-term job benefits to help to gastronomy that suffers even subsidies for student computers: you can find all the measures here in the summary.

International air traffic will break in two thirds in 2020

00:55: International passenger traffic could decrease by up to 1.2 billion passengers by September 2020, explains the United Nations Aviation Authority (ICAO), citing forecasts. That would correspond to a two-thirds decrease in the first three quarters, says ICAO. As a result of the outbreak of the pandemic, global air traffic has almost stopped, travel restrictions and reduced demand have caused the market to collapse.

Senior officials allegedly fired over concerns about corona treatment

12:30 am: A senior government official in the United States states that he has been removed from office due to his resistance to scientifically questionable corona treatment methods. The director of an agency subordinate to the US Department of Health. The US, Rick Bright, wrote in a statement Wednesday (local time) that he had been transferred to a less influential position in another agency against his will.

He was convinced that this had happened because he insisted on investing the funds provided by the US Congress. USA In the crisis of the crown in safe and scientifically proven solutions, and not in medicines, vaccines and other technologies, whose benefits are disputed scientifically.

German bakers complain of massive losses

00:10: More than 80 percent of the 10,500 bakers in Germany complain of serious losses. The newspaper “Bild” reported, citing the Central Association of the German Baker Trade (ZDB). “Many have to close their coffee shop and snack area, which divides up to 70 percent of sales,” said ZDB President Michael Wippler.