With July 1, further relaxation steps are also planned in Austria. From then on, nightclubs will be allowed to open again. In addition, the mask requirement will be partially dropped. Experts see the steps as justifiable, but at the same time warn against the spread of the delta variant, which could pose a risk in the summer.
Delta variant: traffic light commission warns of risk in Austria
With the planned relaxation steps announced by the Austrian government on Wednesday, summer is finally returning to a little more normality. But experts still advise caution, because the delta variant could pose a “systemic risk,” according to the Traffic Light Commission. As the commission explained on Thursday, the risk situation in Austria is to be classified as low due to the epidemiological developments of the past days. Nevertheless, the delta mutation should not be disregarded. If it continues to spread, there could be a new increase in cases as early as the summer months, according to a press release.
This is because the delta variant B.1.617.2 is allegedly not only spreading more strongly than earlier mutations, but is also likely to lead to more severe courses. Especially in non-vaccinated people. The vaccination rate is therefore particularly crucial, especially when it comes to avoiding a renewed rise in the number of cases in the fall, experts say.
Corona variant Delta on the rise in Germany
While the vaccination campaign in Germany continues to make progress, the new delta mutant of the corona virus is also spreading in this country. According to Health Minister Jens Spahn, more than half of Germans (50.1 percent) have now been vaccinated at least once. This corresponds to 41.5 million people, Spahn said in Berlin on Friday. 29.6 percent now have full protection with the second vaccination, he added. “These figures make us confident.” At the same time, however, Spahn and Robert Koch Institute President Lothar Wieler warned against the new delta mutant.
“It’s not a question of whether Delta will become the leading variant, but when,” Wieler said. By fall at the latest, he said, it will have the upper hand. Complete vaccine protection with the second vaccination is therefore important, he said. In Germany, the variant currently has a share of six percent, he said. “We are very happy and very grateful about how the numbers are developing,” Wieler said at the joint press conference with Spahn. But the pandemic is not over, he added. Germany must not now lightly squander its successes, he added. In this respect, it is important to continue to open up only “cautiously and in small steps.
— sources: reuters and miss.at/picture: pixabay.com
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