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About 226 million people have tested positive for the virus worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 4.6 million infected people have died. About 5.8 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide.
The latest developments
In Italy, there will be mandatory certification in the workplace in the future. For both private companies and the public sector, only those who can identify themselves as vaccinated, recovered or tested negative will be allowed to work. Employers may suspend wage payments, but may not fire employees without a “green pass.” The new rule goes into effect Oct. 15.
With the start of mandatory vaccinations for health care workers, some 3,000 employees have been temporarily suspended in France. They had not yet been able to present their first vaccination against the coronavirus on Wednesday, Health Minister Olivier Véran said Thursday (Sept. 16). But he said he expected employees working in areas such as kitchens and laundries to quickly catch up on their vaccinations. There have been only a few dozen dismissals of employees who do not agree with the vaccination requirement. The compulsory vaccination in France affects around 2.7 million employees, mainly in the health sector, but also firefighters, civil defense workers and gendarmes.
In the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, protests by opponents of the government’s Corona measures turned into riots on Wednesday evening (Sept. 15). Demonstrators threw stones, bottles and fireworks at police officers in front of the parliament building. The protest had been sparked by stricter Corona measures that have been in place since Wednesday. In particular, the government had extended the 3G regulation (access for vaccinated, recovered and tested) to all stores except grocery stores and to most public buildings. In Slovenia, the number of new infections is currently on the rise. Forty-five percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
A third dose of the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine can significantly reduce the incidence of disease symptoms associated with coronavirus infection in people 60 years of age and older. This is according to a short-term study from Israel published Wednesday (Sept. 15) in the New England Journal of Medicine. Starting about 12 days after the additional dose, confirmed infection rates were 11 times lower in the booster group than in a group that received the usual two doses.
European Union President Ursula von der Leyen has announced the donation of an additional 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to non-EU countries. “Our first and most urgent priority is to accelerate global vaccination,” she told the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday (Sept. 15).
On Friday (Sept. 17), the first of many proceedings against the Republic of Austria in the Ischgl case will begin. The so-called official liability lawsuit sees a failure of the authorities, who warned too late about the coronavirus and acted too late. It also alleges that Chancellor Sebastian Kurz rashly announced the isolation of several ski resorts, such as the Ischgl hotspot. Fearing the quarantine requirement, tourists would have left the resorts in a hurry and without control. “I estimate that up to 3,000 claims will be made against the Republic,” says Peter Kolba of the Consumer Protection Association (VSV) in Vienna, which looks after the plaintiffs. In the first lawsuit, a widow is demanding 100,000 euros. Her husband had presumably contracted the disease when he tried to leave Ischgl in a crowded bus and got stuck in it for a dangerously long time because of traffic jams. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has also been summoned. “Kurz is a key witness,” Kolba says. He could testify about how the arrangements between the state of Tyrol and the federal government in Vienna about the planned departure went. From VSV’s point of view, Kurz jumped the gun with his press conference before preparations in Ischgl for an orderly departure had been completed. “More than 10,000 people have left the valley, but only in 2600 cases a contact tracing with the help of guest departure forms took place,” Kolba said.
- source: nzz.ch/picture: pixabay.com
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