Coronavirus worldwide: No work without a “green passport” in Italy, tests for non-vaccinated people chargeable in France

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More than 239 million people have tested positive for the virus worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 4.8 million infected people have died. About 6.5 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to decide soon whether to recommend booster vaccinations from manufacturers Moderna- and Johnson-&-Johnson.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to decide soon whether to recommend booster vaccinations from manufacturers Moderna- and Johnson-&-Johnson.
The latest developments
In Italy, starting this Friday (Oct. 15), all private and public sector workers must prove they have been vaccinated, recovered or tested negative. Only then will they be allowed to work in their offices, factories, stores, public institutions or in the service industry with a so-called “green passport.” Around 23 million employees are affected by the decree law. Infections at work and collective quarantine are to be avoided in this way. Those who do not have a passport must stay at home and no longer receive a salary if they are absent. 85 percent of Italians over the age of twelve have been vaccinated at least once. With his decree, Prime Minister Mario Draghi wants to ensure that even the last procrastinators are vaccinated.

Vaccination skeptics plan to paralyze the country’s ports today as a protest.
In France, Corona tests for unvaccinated adults will no longer be free from Friday (Oct. 15 ) unless there are medical reasons not to vaccinate. The goal is to spur people to vaccinate, as it offers the best protection and points a permanent way out of the Corona crisis, the government in Paris said. The tests would be abused as a substitute for vaccination, this would no longer have to be financed by the public. In the future, a rapid test will cost between 22 and 30 euros, and a PCR test will cost 44 euros. Tests done as part of contact tracing or mass testing, such as at schools, or when people show symptoms of illness, will continue to be covered by health insurance. A full vaccination or a negative test is required in France to visit leisure and sports venues, cinemas, restaurants and cafés, or to travel by long-distance train or plane.

The Australian city of Sydney will lift the quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated travelers from abroad starting Nov. 1. “We are opening Sydney and New South Wales to the world,” the new premier of the Australian state announced Friday (Oct. 15). Australia had closed its international borders in response to the pandemic, allowing only a limited number of its own citizens into the country to undergo a two-week hotel quarantine. Under Australian federal government plans, international travel will be phased in with safe countries by early 2022. Borders between Australia’s constituent states are currently closed. Residents of the Sydney metropolitan area are not allowed to travel to the regions.

Nearly 86 percent of all Corona infections in Africa go unnoticed. This was reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday (Oct. 14). This puts the number of all infections on the continent at an estimated 59 million – seven times more than the more than eight million cases reported. The high number of unreported cases can be explained by the fact that health facilities have so far focused on testing people with symptoms of the disease, which has led to extensive underreporting, the WHO said. Overall, more than 8.4 million corona cases have been recorded in Africa, including 214,000 deaths. Fewer than half of the African countries that have received vaccines have fully vaccinated an average of about two percent of their populations, according to WHO data.

The popular Indonesian vacation island of Bali is welcoming tourists back with immediate effect – but only fully vaccinated ones from selected countries. “Following the president’s instruction, we are allowing visitors from 19 countries to return to Bali and the Riau Islands,” said a statement Thursday (14 Oct) from the government’s pandemic official, Luhut Pandjaitan. Countries on the list include India, Japan, New Zealand, Italy, France and Spain. These have the coronavirus under control, according to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, Pandjaitan said. Those entering the country need a vaccination certificate, a negative PCR test and a hotel reservation, and must initially spend five days in quarantine at the booked hotel. In June and July, Indonesia, with its 270 million inhabitants, had experienced a severe virus wave. At times, more than 50,000 new infections a day were reported. Meanwhile, they are less than 1500 per day.