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Spain broke through the one million mark of corona infections on Wednesday. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 1 005 295 people in the country of 47 million inhabitants have tested positive for the Sars-CoV-2 virus, the Ministry of Health announced in Madrid. That was 16,973 more than the day before, a new daily record. The health authorities in Germany, however, reported 7,595 new corona infections within 24 hours early on Wednesday morning.
The figure of more than one million infections is the highest of all Western European countries and sixth worldwide. Only the USA, India, Brazil, Russia and Argentina reported even more infected persons. The number of people dying from corona has increased by 156 since the previous day to 34,366.
The number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days was reported to be a good 178. For comparison: In Germany, this figure is currently 51.3 according to the Robert Koch Institute. Meanwhile, more and more communities, cities and entire regions have been more or less sealed off or have announced this for the next few days in order to contain the spread of the virus. Of it 7.6 million humans are concerned, reported the national television RTVE.
The regional governments of Navarra and the wine region La Rioja in the north of the country even ordered an extensive sealing off of the entire area for two weeks. Throughout Spain, there are a total of almost 2,000 municipalities with more than 16 million inhabitants in which, according to an overview by RTVE, restrictions on public life were ordered.
In the capital Madrid, on the other hand, with still high corona numbers and surrounding cities, the two-week blockade ordered by the central government against the will of the regional government ends on Friday. The city is then considering sealing off certain particularly affected areas of the city and a night-time curfew. This possibility has also been discussed for the whole of Spain. However, the parliament would have to agree to the declaration of a state of emergency, which was considered unlikely.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, the health authorities in Germany reported 7,595 new corona infections within 24 hours early on Wednesday morning. The figure is thus slightly below the record level of 7,830 on Saturday, but well above the 5,132 new infections reported last Wednesday. The number of new infections on Saturday reached a record level for the third time in a row since the beginning of the corona pandemic in Germany.
However, the current figures can only be compared with those from the spring to a limited extent, because considerably more tests are now being carried out – and thus more infections are being detected. According to experts, because of the time between infection, testing, results and reporting, the newly reported infections are an indication of how strong the virus was in society about a week ago. Therefore it takes time for political measures to be reflected in the number of reports.
In view of the sharp rise in corona numbers, the Czech Republic is taking drastic measures that are tantamount to a nationwide lockdown. From Thursday 6.00 a.m. almost all stores have to close, as Health Minister Roman Prymula announced on Wednesday. Exceptions are grocery stores and supermarkets, drugstores and pharmacies. In addition, exit restrictions will be imposed as in spring.
In view of the increasing number of corona infections, the Italian government is appealing to the population to refrain from unnecessary travel and journeys by public transport. “We are working day and night to avoid a lockdown, but the number of infections depends on the restrictive measures,” said Minister of Health Roberto Speranza.
France wants to extend until February 16 the health emergency that came into force again last Saturday. A bill to this effect has been initiated and will be presented to parliament, said government spokesman Gabriel Attal on Wednesday after a government meeting chaired by President Emmanuel Macron.
France is struggling hard with the Covid 19 pandemic. Since Saturday, a night curfew from 9 p.m. has been in force in many cities, including Paris. Over the weekend, more than 32,000 new corona infections were reported within 24 hours – a peak figure.
In Lithuania, new corona infections reached a record level for the fourth time this month. According to the health authority in Vilnius on Wednesday, 311 positive tests were recorded within 24 hours. This is the highest increase within one day since the beginning of the pandemic. The previous record in the Baltic EU country was 255 new infections.
Lithuania, with its almost three million inhabitants, has so far recorded a total of 8,239 confirmed infections and 120 deaths in connection with the coronavirus. The number of infections had recently increased significantly – since the middle of last week there have been more than 200 new cases every day. However, there has also been an increase in testing.
For the first time, Poland exceeded the limit of 10,000 confirmed new corona infections per day. On Wednesday the health authorities in Warsaw reported a record increase with 10,040 new cases within 24 hours. The total number of infections in Poland since the outbreak of the pandemic in spring has thus already climbed to more than 200,000, according to data from the Ministry of Health. The number of corona deaths rose by another 130 to 3,851 within one day.
In recent weeks, Poland has reintroduced a number of measures to contain the spread of the virus. These include the compulsory wearing of masks in public and restrictions on the number of participants at public events. New restrictions could be announced on Thursday, according to government spokesman Piotr Mueller. “
In Poland, there is growing concern about whether the healthcare system has sufficient capacity to treat the increasing number of hospital patients. The government therefore plans to build additional provisional hospitals in all 16 regions. However, the health care facilities are also complaining about a growing shortage of medical staff and dwindling treatment options for patients suffering from diseases other than Covid-19.
Slovenia recorded more than 1,000 new infections within one day for the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic. A total of 1,503 cases were registered on Tuesday. A record daily number of deaths was also reported: eight people died from or with Covid-19 disease.
A total of 333 people are currently being treated in hospital. Of these, 55 are in intensive care, 41 of them require artificial respiration. There are 8,860 active corona cases in the country, according to data from the Slovenian tracker site “covid-19.sledilnik.org”.
To contain the spread, almost the entire country is already under partial lockdown. In eleven of twelve regions, residents are not allowed to leave their respective region without good reason, and a night-time curfew (from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.) has been imposed on the whole of Slovenia. Meanwhile, the Slovenian Minister of Health Tomaz Gantar has spoken out in favor of a total lockdown.
In Switzerland and Liechtenstein a total of almost 6,000 new corona infections have been reported within 24 hours. This is a record, the number is twice as high as the day before, according to data from the Federal Office of Public Health. 5,583 cases were reported in Switzerland and 13 in Liechtenstein. The Swiss figure for the past 24 hours was more than seven times higher than the German figure in terms of population size.
Meanwhile, in India, the Ministry of Health reported 54,044 new infections within 24 hours. This means that a total of more than 7.65 million people have been proven to be infected with the coronavirus. This is the second highest figure worldwide after the USA (over 8.3 million). The number of people in India who died with or from the virus rose by 717 to 115,914, and the number of registered daily new infections has been declining since the peak in September. However, experts warn that this could change during upcoming holidays.
— hp, Source: APA, Picture: stockilyapp.com
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