Category: Feature Stories

The Austrian federal government wants to be better prepared for the coming, now third pandemic autumn. On Friday, Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) and experts presented a so-called Variant Management Plan (VMP). Involving 80 experts, it contains four possible scenarios for the further development of the coronavirus. Rauch announced that the final VMP should be available at the beginning of June. “We need to prepare seriously for different scenarios in the fall,” Rauch said. “We simply don’t know which variant we will be dealing with in the fall,” the responsible…

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According to the Food Industry Trade Association, national origin labeling will continue to fuel food inflation. “We are experiencing the strongest wave of inflation in 40 years. Food costs are going through the roof. Right now is the worst possible time for new mandates, which are driving up costs even further for domestic producers. This is further fueling food inflation. Who is taking political responsibility for this?” criticizes Katharina Koßdorff, Managing Director of the Food Industry Association, on the occasion of the appraisal of two regulations for a purely national…

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So far, 36 cases of BA.4 and one point of BA.5 have been reported in Austria. In South Africa, the subvariants are even causing a new wave. One of the reasons for this is likely to be a change in the spike protein, which has not previously been found in Omicron. “We already know the L452 mutation from Delta, which means that antibodies can no longer bind to the virus. This could explain the high immune escape property of BA.4 and BA.5,” says molecular biologist Andreas Bergthaler in an interview…

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According to World Health Organization estimates, the Corona pandemic has claimed the lives of about 14.9 million people worldwide in 2020 and 2021. The figure includes both Corona-infected people who have died and people with other illnesses or injuries who could not be treated in time because of overstretched health systems—the WHO reported Thursday in Geneva. The death toll is just over 6.2 million among those infected with Corona. The figures are based on reports from WHO member countries. The WHO is calling for more investment in healthcare so that…

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Rhubarb originates from the Himalayas and has been used as a medicinal plant for thousands of years. In this country, its fruity and sour stalks are used as an ingredient in summer cakes, compotes, sauces, or jams. Rhubarb – a vegetable and not a fruit – first came to Europe in the 18th century. These nutrients are found in rhubarb With 21 kilocalories per 100 grams, rhubarb is as slim as its shape. But there’s not much in the way of vitamins and minerals either: a little vitamin C (13…

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Putting electrical devices into standby mode instead of turning them off entirely is convenient but uses extra power. The older they are, the more juice they usually need in standby mode, but even modern devices can be pretty greedy when networked. Electricity is expensive and getting more expensive. One way to reduce a household’s energy consumption is to put electrical devices into standby mode less often and switch them off entirely instead. How much you can save by doing this depends mainly on your age. “Up to 20 percent of…

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It’s not just the shirt that gets too tight: overweight and obesity are generally among the leading causes of disability and death in Europe. Obesity and overweight in Europe have reached “epidemic proportions,” says the WHO. Ist latest European Obesity Report reports that 59 percent of adults weigh far too much. This has unhealthy, sometimes fatal consequences. More than half of adults in Europe weigh too much, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Fifty-nine percent of adults in the WHO European Region live overweight or obese. The proportion was…

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The new Omicron variant BA.4 is currently contributing to a new wave of CoV in South Africa. In Vienna, too, there are already almost 30 documented cases. Whether and for whom a fourth vaccination is valid, the city and the National Vaccination Committee disagree. The new Omicron variant BA.4 is one of the drivers of the currently rising fifth wave of infection in South Africa, according to Andreas Bergthaler, virologist and immunologist at MedUni Vienna. The variant has already arrived in Vienna as well, with “less than 30 cases” under…

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Experts had already emphasized weeks ago: that Omicron has the potential to become the dominant variant of the coronavirus. What does this mean for infected persons? What are the signs of illness? And why is Omicron more contagious than its predecessor Delta? Here is an overview of the most important answers. Can we expect a new wave of mutations in early summer? The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Germany gives an incubation period, i.e., the time from infection to the onset of the disease, of five to six and a…

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