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More than 249 million people have tested positive for the virus worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 5 million infected people have died. More than 7 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide.
The latest developments
Australia, after a delayed start to its vaccination campaign due to a lack of vaccine, has now reached its goal of a nationwide complete vaccination rate of 80 percent of all residents over the age of 16. “We did it” wrote Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Twitter. Now, he said, the country can slowly open up without concern. Australia had largely sealed itself off from foreign countries since March 2020 to prevent the coronavirus from entering. After an outbreak of the delta variant, residents of the major cities of Melbourne and Sydney endured months of harsh lockdowns to limit the spread of the virus. The strict measures have so far allowed the country of 25 million people to limit Corona deaths to 1795. Australia is now starting booster vaccinations for everyone.
People without the Corona vaccination will no longer be allowed to visit pubs, hairdressers and events in Austria from Monday. Even for tourism businesses such as cable cars there is only after vaccination or recovery (2G rule) access. This was announced by the government in Vienna on Friday evening. In Austria, the number of new infections is rising rapidly. On Friday, there were 9388 – close to the previous record of 9586, which was reached about a year ago. Originally, the government had planned to introduce a partial lockdown for the unvaccinated only when 500 beds in intensive care units were occupied by Corona patients. Currently, there are 362, but the 500 would be reached in just a few days, said Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein.
Iceland is reintroducing mandatory masks because of rising Corona numbers and wants to make booster vaccinations available to everyone over 16. The island actually wanted to lift the remaining Corona restrictions. Instead, several measures will be tightened or reintroduced, including as early as Saturday (Nov. 6) the requirement to wear mouth-to-nose protection if a minimum distance of one meter cannot be maintained. This was announced by the Icelandic government on Friday. In addition, as of Wednesday, only 500 instead of the previous 2000 people are allowed to gather at meetings and events, 1500 at least if they can show a negative rapid test. Restaurants serving alcohol will have to close two hours earlier than at present, and thus as early as 11:00 pm. All of this will initially apply for four weeks, until December 8. All people on the North Atlantic island over the age of 16 are also to be offered a third dose of vaccine to boost their protection against Covid-19.
In view of the worsened corona situation in many regions of Germany, the federal and state governments want to make booster vaccinations available to all vaccinated people after six months. To this end, the states envisage, among other things, vaccination buses and vaccination centers, said Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn after a meeting of federal and state ministers in Lindau on Friday (Nov. 5). Physicians in private practice would also be involved in booster vaccinations.
Pfizer’s Covid-19 pill has been shown to be very effective, according to the company. It reduced hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients by 89 percent in one study, Pfizer announced Friday (Nov. 5). “Because of the overwhelming efficacy,” the company now plans to submit the results to U.S. regulators for emergency approval as soon as possible. The pill is taken after the first sign of symptoms. It is the second promising candidate for treating Covid 19 patients in the early stages of the disease. Merck & Co. and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP have also already submitted their experimental pill to regulatory authorities after a study showed it halved the risk of serious illness or death in patients with mild to moderate Covid-19.
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has for the first time approved a tablet for the treatment of covid-19. The antiviral agent Lagevrio (also known as molnupiravir) is safe and effective in reducing the risk of hospital admissions and deaths in covid patients with mild and moderate courses, a UK government statement said Thursday (Nov. 4). It is the world’s first approved oral antiviral for covid-19, which the European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced at the end of October it was reviewing. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also initiated an approval process for the drug. The EMA is also reviewing seven other potential corona drugs.
The surge in new Corona infections in Austria continues. Within 24 hours, 8594 cases were recorded, according to authorities on Thursday (Nov. 4) – by far the highest figure this year. At the same time, the situation in hospitals worsened. The number of covid intensive care patients rose by about 30 percent to 352 within a week. A crisis summit of the federal and state governments is planned for Friday, which will also focus on standardizing the regionally different Corona regulations. Michael Ludwig, mayor of Vienna, also announced that the 2G rule would apply in the capital from the end of next week. Then only recovered and vaccinated persons may visit pubs and hairdressers. In addition, this rule would apply to gatherings of 25 people or more.
— source: nzz.ch/picture:pixabay.com
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