[ad_1]
Don’t miss a thing – subscribe to us for the latest developments and the most important background information. Coronavirus Newsletter.
6:15 am: On the first day of the new year, German health authorities reported 12,690 new corona infections. In addition, 336 new deaths were recorded in 24 hours, as announced by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). However, interpreting the data is difficult at the moment as fewer people are likely to be tested over the Christmas holidays and around the turn of the year and not all offices can pass on their data. According to the RKI, this can result in late registrations.
A week ago, on Christmas Day, there were 14,455 new corona infections and 240 deaths. The peak of 1,129 new deaths was reached on Wednesday (December 30).
The number of new infections reported to health authorities in seven days per 100,000 inhabitants (incidence in seven days) was 141.2 on Saturday morning. Its previous high was reached on December 22 at 197.6. However, the differences between federal states are huge: the highest incidences on Friday were Saxony with 341.2 and Thuringia with 244.7. Schleswig-Holstein had the lowest value with 74.2.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the RKI has counted 1,755,351 infections detected with Sars-CoV-2 in Germany (as of midnight January 2). The total number of people who died with or with a proven Sars-CoV-2 infection increased to 33,960. The RKI stated that the number of people recovered was around 1,368,100.
According to the RKI report on Thursday, the national seven-day R-value was 0.80 (Tuesday: 0.68). This R-value means that 100 infected people theoretically infect 80 more people. The value represents the onset of the infection 8 to 16 days ago. If it is below 1 for a long time, the infection process subsides. In its report, however, the RKI emphasizes that at the turn of the year, corona cases are only displayed, recorded and transmitted with a delay, “so that the R-value can also be underestimated.”
Medical President Calls for Better Protection for Seniors and Nursing Homes
8.12 am: The president of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, has called for better crown protection for the elderly and nursing homes during the vaccination campaign. Residents were “definitely not” adequately protected against infection, Reinhardt told the “Bild” newspaper.
Many states and municipalities had members of mobile vaccination teams take Corona tests prior to use. But he knows from personal experience cases where doctors “who currently drive to nursing homes and vaccinate people aged 90, 95, even over a hundred years old” did not have to do a rapid corona test beforehand.
“The basic strategy of tests in the area of nursing personnel is not carried out with regularity,” criticized the president of the doctor.
Lower Saxony’s health minister assumes closure will be extended
7.46 am: Lower Saxony Health Minister Carola Reimann expects an extension of the closure in federal-state consultations on Tuesday. “It seems that no other procedure is indicated,” says the SPD politician on Deutschlandfunk. Nor does he rule out tightening restrictions on public life, but wants to wait first for reliable data on infections. Rely on knowledge of the population and other vaccines.
Retail doesn’t expect store closures to end quickly
07.00 am: The trade does not expect a quick end to crown-related store closures in Germany. “I’m afraid the stores will not be allowed to reopen on January 10th. Because the goal of reducing the incidence from 7 days across the country to less than 50 will probably not be achieved by then, “said the managing director of the German Trade Association (HDE), Stefan Genth, of the dpa.
Retailers feel they have been left alone in the crisis. “The situation is really very serious,” Genth said. “Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz always announces billions in aid, but the aid is not actually paid because the barriers to entry are too high.” As a result, retailers do not have sufficient access to state aid.
The main goal should be to reopen the stores as soon as possible from a virologist’s point of view and then keep them open.
Bundeskartellamt expects a wave of mergers in the new year
06.37 am: The Bundeskartellamt anticipates many more acquisitions and mergers this year than in previous years. “There is a lot of liquidity in the market, while at the same time many companies also have problems due to the crown,” said the head of the Cartel Office, Andreas Mundt, of the “Rheinische Post”. It recognizes a number of difficult procedures: “This mixed situation can result not only in many, but also in procedures sensitive to competition.”
However, he refuses to examine mergers only loosely because companies are in crisis because of Corona, Mundt said: “Merger control is structural control that points to the future. Therefore, we should not apply any other standards. than in the past. “
His authority will critically examine whether Chinese companies should use the current turmoil to buy German companies: “In the future, we will have to be much more careful that there are no distortions of competition through state-subsidized acquisitions.”
Kiel economist fears 600,000 job losses
5.45 am: According to economist Gabriel Felbermayr, around 600,000 jobs will be lost in Germany due to the corona pandemic. The worst affected areas are those that were already subject to structural changes, such as the aviation and tourism industries, said the director of the Kiel Institute for World Economy. “In a decarbonized world, aviation would have to contract anyway. Corona anticipates a lot and does so in a sustainable way. “
The economist sees long-lasting consequences for tourism, which is important for Schleswig-Holstein and other coastal states. “Everything will not be alright there either,” Felbermayr said. “In private tourism, the rebound will be very clear: people want to go to the coasts and to the mountains.” In business tourism, however, there is a clear structural change. “There will be fewer flights and less congress tourism.” This especially affects urban hotels. Instead, online communication is increasingly important. “The pandemic will change retail in the long run,” said the economist.
DIW Chairman Expects a Wave of Corporate Bankruptcies
05.31 am: The president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Marcel Fratzscher, expects an increase in corporate bankruptcies as a result of the Corona crisis. “The second wave will be tougher,” said Fratzscher of the “Augsburger Allgemeine.” “The later, the more companies are reaching the limit of their possibilities, the more they go bankrupt.” The question is not “if there will be a wave of corporate insolvencies, but when.”
According to the president of DIW, there is the threat of a wave of corporate bankruptcies, along with rising unemployment. However, it is okay to extend the lock. Also for the economy, the top priority should be to limit the second wave of infections as quickly as possible: “Economic relaxation now may benefit some in the short term, but in the long term it would harm everyone.”
The DIW chief accused the politicians of not managing the crisis: Germany had not prepared adequately for the second wave.
Lauterbach considers the opening of nurseries and primary schools possible
02.03 am: SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach is in favor of reopening kindergartens and elementary schools that have been closed due to the corona pandemic since the second half of January under certain conditions. “The prerequisite would be for all other grade levels to alternately split and receive face-to-face and digital lessons. Or face-to-face teaching is completely suspended, “Lauterbach told the Rheinische Post.”
“If all schools reopen as before the holidays, we run the risk that we will not even reach the incidence value of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week despite the closures,” he warned.
Doctors union calls for extension of closure nationwide
1:22 am: In view of the situation in the hospitals, the Marburger Bund doctors union is calling for the harsh closure to be extended. The burden of caring for Covid 19 patients continued to rise over the holidays, union president Susanne Johna told the Funke media group newspapers. Clinics have no respite.
»The health system urgently needs relief that can only be achieved by expanding measures to restrict contact. Otherwise, we will not have the situation under control, ”said Johna. Furthermore, there are more and more patients in intensive care units and infection rooms who must be cared for with fewer and fewer staff because hospital staff are also infected with the virus. This extreme workload cannot be supported permanently.
