[ad_1]
Good news for cross-border travelers and tourists in Switzerland: the German Corona-Warn app will be linked to the Swiss-Swiss-Covid app. Swiss Ambassador to Germany Paul Seger spoke in Berlin on Friday of an “effective contribution to protecting the health of cross-border travelers and the population on both sides of the Rhine and Lake Constance.”
From now on, users of the application will also be informed if they have been in contact with a user of the other application who later tested positive. According to the agreement with the Robert Koch Institute, the technical implementation “will take a few more days. But both applications should be linked to each other probably as of Easter,” said the ambassador. At the moment, cross-border travelers must still have both applications installed on their mobile phones and, depending on where they are, activate one or the other application. Technically, it is not possible to activate both applications at the same time.
Mallorca is no longer a risk zone since Sunday
Due to the sharp drop in the number of corona infections, the federal government is lifting travel restrictions for Mallorca. As of Sunday, the most popular holiday island for Germans, like the other Balearic Islands and some regions of the Spanish peninsula, is no longer considered a risk zone, as the Robert Koch Institute announced on Friday on the Internet.
Linked to this is the lifting of the travel warning issued by the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This means: Holidays in Mallorca are possible again without quarantine and without the obligation to test after returning. Starting Sunday, this will also apply to much of Portugal, which has so far been classified as a virus variant zone with particularly strict rules.
The federal government’s decision sends an important signal, especially in the face of the Easter holidays that begin in two weeks in most federal states. Because it is not yet clear whether the holidays in Germany will be possible. Hotels remain closed across Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel and state ministers will not discuss possible openings until March 22. In their most recent decision on March 3, the federal and state governments made an “urgent” appeal to all citizens to “refrain from traveling that is not absolutely necessary in and out of the country.”
In Mallorca and the rest of the Balearic Islands such as Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, the number of infections is much lower than in all the German federal states. With a good 21 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days, the archipelago, which for a long time registered the worst figures in Spain in December and January, is now one of the regions with the best values. The limit value for classification as a risk zone is 50.
“We are in the last third of the pandemic”
According to the federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn (CDU), the situation in Germany in the corona pandemic remains “still tense”. They are still struggling “to find the right balance between security and the path to normalcy.” Thanks to the measures taken in autumn, many citizens were able to “protect them from serious diseases and illnesses.”
According to Spahn, the vaccination campaign is “picking up speed.” In the last two days there were more than 270,000 vaccinations in total, of which 200,000 were first and 70,000 second. Spahn justified the delay in starting vaccination in general practitioners’ consultations by saying that there were not enough vaccines yet available. He stressed that also in this case prioritization in vaccination will not be dispensed with. “But we can make the transitions more fluid at every step and with increasing numbers,” explained the CDU politician. And for people with previous illnesses in particular, doctors’ surgeries are an “ideal place” because they are known as patients there.
Regarding vaccinations with the Astra Zeneca vaccine, which were suspended in Denmark, Iceland and Norway, Spahn said there are “currently no reliable findings” on the possible side effects of thrombosis. According to him, the deaths in the countries are not “causally related” to the administration of the vaccine, but rather “in a temporary relationship”. However, the Ministry of Health and the Paul Ehrlich Institute observed the situation and investigated it.
RKI President Lothar Wieler said that “the pandemic” in Germany “is unfortunately not over yet. On the contrary, we are now at the beginning of the third wave.” But you still have a chance to slow down dynamic development. “Together we can prevent ourselves from finding ourselves in the same situation as before Christmas with a great burden on the healthcare system,” Wieler said. I am encouraged that the number of serious cases and illnesses among the elderly is decreasing due to vaccines. In the fight against the pandemic, according to the RKI chief, Germany is “in the last third of a marathon, and it is known to be particularly exhausting.” In the coming months, a wider vaccination coverage of the population will reach the status of “Covid Control”.
German health authorities reported 12,834 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in one day, 2,254 more than exactly a week ago. The seven-day incidence was also significantly higher on Friday morning at 72.4 than the day before (69.1). In addition, 252 additional deaths were recorded in 24 hours.
Anke Richter-Scheer, a board member for the General Practitioners Association, said the demand for testing in general practitioner practices is currently “slow.” You are already noticing the protection that vaccines provide to those over 80 years of age. Richter-Scheer, who also runs a vaccination center, said it was sensible for the vaccination campaign to start at the centers. However, he emphasized the importance of vaccinating in family doctor visits as soon as possible. Now it is necessary to accelerate the procedure to be able to vaccinate “not until mid-April, but at the beginning of the month” in the consultations, since the general practitioners would have a better vision of which of their patients had priority.
Family doctor’s decision on vaccinations next Wednesday
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the prime ministers of the federal states want to discuss the start of corona vaccines in doctor’s offices on March 17 on a telephone line. The chancellor’s goal is “to get the vaccine to citizens as quickly as possible at a combination of vaccination centers and general practitioners,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in Berlin on Friday. Deliberations must begin at 7 pm
It is necessary to discuss how this can be achieved with the maximum speed and flexibility and how the entry of general practitioners to the vaccination campaign can be arranged from the beginning or mid-April, Seibert said. Health ministers agreed on or earlier on Wednesday 16 of the calendar week (April 19-25) as the start date for routine vaccinations in medical practices, if delivery quantities allow. On March 22, as planned, Merkel wants to coordinate with the ministerial presidents how to proceed in blocking the crown.
According to Seibert, a federal government task force created by the cabinet will monitor the production and delivery of vaccines until December. To cope with the pandemic, it is critical that the quantities of vaccines ordered and promised are delivered according to plan. It’s about working with manufacturers to avoid avoidable production outages or identifying them early to counteract them. This is the chain from obtaining raw materials through filling to delivery of vaccination by-products and accessories. The working group will be constituted in the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance and the Chancellery must collaborate.
Steinmeier calls for more pragmatism in the fight against Corona
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for more pragmatism in the fight against the corona virus. In weeks of vaccine shortages, it was “imperative” that vulnerable groups were vaccinated first, Steinmeier said at an FAZ event according to the manuscript of the speech. “But our ambition to bring everything to perfection, coupled with a fear of experimenting, often gets in our way.” Every measure is secured by innumerable rules, and any deviation from the rule is labeled “high treason.”
“We don’t think they are British, or American, or Israeli,” Steinmeier said, “and we shouldn’t regret it.” Steinmeier added: “But a little more pragmatism would do us good.” Steinmeier criticized “overwhelming competition in black paint” in pandemic politics. That doesn’t help anybody. “We waste too much energy looking for the culprit of the day, playing money games, vaccinating envy on the one hand or refusing to vaccinate on the other.” The federal president asked: “Try more, vaccinate faster, with all the means we have. That is the order of the day.”
Altmaier: Financial aid will be paid again
Effective immediately, companies affected by the Corona crisis will again receive advances from the federal government as part of November, December and Bridging Aid III. “Advance payments for Corona’s aid programs start again today,” said Federal Finance Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU). Rheinische Mail. “This is good news for our companies. Due to cases of fraud, advance payments had to be stopped on short notice.”
The federal government suspended payments at the end of last week after several cases of fraud. “The short-term interruption of the advances was legally required and necessary to verify the irregularities in return with the criminal investigation authorities, but also with the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and the Federal Ministry of Finance and take the prevent these fraud attempts from being repeated in the future, “a ministry spokeswoman told the newspaper.
From November to Friday, around 9.6 billion euros have already been transferred to those affected, according to the ministry. With the help of November and December, 96 percent of the advances are already in the accounts of the beneficiaries. The new disbursement of aid for November and December will be borne by the federal states.
