Coronavirus News on Tuesday: Most Important Developments Regarding Sars-CoV-2 and Covid-19

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China Apparently Testing Human Vaccines

4:05 am: According to a media report, China approved two experimental vaccines to combat the coronavirus for human testing. The vaccines were developed by a Beijing-based Sinovac biotechnology unit and the Institute of Biological Products, a subsidiary of China’s national state pharmaceutical group in Wuhan, the Xinhua news agency reports.

In March, China had already given the go-ahead for a clinical trial of a promising vaccine candidate developed by the Chinese Academy of Military Medicine and the biotech company CanSino Bio. US drug developer Moderna also said in March that it had begun human testing for a vaccine.

Green leaders call for schools and kindergartens to be opened

3:45 a.m .: Green Co-Chairs Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck have spoken out in favor of gradually opening schools and kindergartens again, but accompanied by precautionary measures. Before Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and prime ministers discuss what will happen in the crisis on Wednesday, the two wrote a letter to party members, which is available to the dpa news agency. “Graduation classes should be the first to go back to school,” he says. Grades one through six should also be a priority because the attention of younger students is particularly important.

More than 1,500 crown deaths in the US USA In a day

3:10 am: in the USA According to a count by Johns Hopkins University on Monday night (local time) over a 24-hour period, more than 1,500 people died as a result of a coronavirus infection. As a result, the death toll in the US USA It rose to more than 23,500, according to the University of Baltimore.

The center of the pandemic in the United States is New York State, where more than 10,000 people have already died from Covid-19 lung disease caused by the virus. According to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the state now has the worst behind it. It was time to think about a slow return to normality, Cuomo said Monday. The president’s response to this move can be found below.

2:45 a.m. – In the dispute over a relaxation of restrictions on public life in the United States, President Donald Trump has claimed sovereignty. He has an “all-encompassing power” in the reopening of the United States as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, Trump said at the White House on Monday night (local time).

In doing so, it responded to statements by the governors of various U.S. states that they had previously said they would coordinate with each other to lift the restrictions they imposed. Trump emphasized: “If someone is the President of the United States, he has general power.”

He wants to loosen restrictions on the corona virus as soon as possible due to the looming economic crisis. The background should also be that he has to worry about his re-election in November in a weak US economy.

Austria opens first stores with strict requirements

2:10 am: Austria has begun to relax measures in the fight against the epidemic. Small stores and hardware stores would reopen Tuesday, government officials said. Last week, Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz outlined a phased plan to reopen parts of the economy. Start today with smaller stores up to 400 square meters, as well as DIY and garden centers.

The business is subject to strict conditions: the number of people is limited, clients must wear face masks and comply with distance regulations. Starting May 1, shopping malls, department stores, and hair salons will follow. Restaurants and hotels could gradually reopen from mid-May, Kurz said.

Trump extends entry stop for Europeans

1:35 am: The US entry ban USA For foreigners from Europe it is still in force for the moment. Italy and Spain are still not well in the Corona crisis and France has just renewed measures to contain the virus, United States President Donald Trump said Monday night (local time) at the White House. Currently, there is a “very strong” entry ban that will remain in place until countries improve, Trump said. As soon as this was the case, one wanted to end the entry stop “very quickly,” Trump made it clear. “But we want to make sure everything is fine.” The United States is now the country with the highest recorded infections (more than 682,000) and deaths (more than 23,000) from the virus worldwide.

In announcing the entry stop in mid-March, Trump had said the regulation was limited to 30 days. Two weeks ago, he announced that the move should last longer.

Foreign Minister Maas wants a uniform crown application for the entire EU

1:10 am: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas spoke in favor of a uniform crown application in the European Union. “It is important that we do not end up with a mosaic of 27 corona applications and 27 data protection regimes, but that we act in the most coordinated way possible,” the SPD politician told the newspapers of the media group Funke. “In this way, we also help to quickly and permanently dismantle travel restrictions and border controls in the EU.”

According to Maas, a Corona app will be an important part of the exit strategy, but on a voluntary basis. You don’t have to “copy the methods of Big Brother’s authoritarian states.” In Germany and other European countries, the idea of ​​such an application has been under discussion for weeks. It is about quickly informing people when they have had contact with infected people.

IMF grants debt relief to 25 countries

00:50: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) allows 25 member countries to make immediate debt relief through its “Disaster Relief and Containment Trust”. “This will provide grants to our poorest and most vulnerable members to cover their debt obligations to the IMF during an initial phase over the next six months, and will help them use more of their scarce financial resources for vital medical and relief efforts,” said the IMF’s executive director, Kristalina Georgieva. .

The IMF currently has $ 500 million in financing, including new commitments of $ 185 million from the United Kingdom, $ 100 million from Japan, and undetermined amounts from China, the Netherlands, and other countries.

Turkey wants to release tens of thousands of prisoners early

00:25: The Turkish parliament passed a controversial bill to free tens of thousands of prisoners due to the crown crisis. The draft “became law” through the acceptance of the deputies, he said from parliament in Ankara. Human rights groups had harshly criticized the bill for not including political prisoners.

The regulation provides for the release of around 90,000 prisoners from overcrowded prisons. This does not apply to political prisoners accused of Turkey’s controversial anti-terrorism laws. Therefore, Human Rights Watch had strongly criticized the project.

Writers’ association PEN had called for the release of imprisoned journalists and human rights defenders in light of unsanitary conditions in many Turkish prisons.

23,000 deaths in the United States – states plan exit strategy

00:15: In the United States, the number of Covid 19 deaths on Monday exceeded the threshold of 23,000. The number of known coronavirus infections is almost 683,000. However, the debate over an exit strategy in the United States continues to emerge from rigid exit restrictions. Several states are developing joint plans to lift restrictions on public life.

The governors of New York and New Jersey on the east coast, among others, and California and Oregon on the west coast, among others, say they want to coordinate their actions. Governors had previously said that the worst could have happened.

Tigers at the Indian Zoo need to be isolated

00:05: Measures against the virus affect the lives of most people around the world. But certain animals also feel the security measures. Tigers in an Indian zoo have to keep their distance due to the pandemic: After infection with a tiger from the zoo in the United States, the Kamala Nehru Zoological Garden in the western Indian state of Gujarat moved its tigers to individual enclosures. Big cats have been isolated to prevent infection, said the director of the Bharatsinh Vihol zoo. Therefore, animals are no longer allowed to mate despite an ongoing breeding program.