Vienna City Health Councilor Peter Hacker expects a doubling of new infections “in the next one or two days”

admin

City Health Councillor Peter Hacker (SPÖ) expects a doubling of new infections in Vienna “in the next one or two days,” he told ORF’s “Wien heute” program in an interview. “We can expect to see a doubling in the next few days. That’s what I’m counting on. I would be surprised if it’s less,” Hacker said in an interview with ORF Vienna editor-in-chief Oliver Ortner. The reason for this, he said, is the sharp increase in the number of tests due to the return of children to schools or because…

Read More

Deltakron: Alleged “mixed variant” caused by laboratory error

admin

The alleged detection of a mixed variant of delta and omicron in Cyprus is probably due to contamination during analysis, according to experts. “These genomes are most likely artifacts,” Richard Neher of the University of Basel (Switzerland), a leading expert on viral variants, explained to Deutsche Presse-Agentur. He said the omicron mutations observed here in a context of delta genome sequences all affect a DNA segment that is often very weak in delta detections and therefore highly susceptible to contamination. Other experts expressed similar views on Twitter, such as WHO…

Read More

10,804 new corona infections and seven deaths

admin

The number of new daily infections was usually lower at the beginning of the week. Today, ministries report 10,804 new cases, a very high figure for a Monday. More than 10,000 new infections on a Monday have only occurred on Nov. 15 and Nov. 22 of last year. The average for the past seven days thus climbs to 8771. The Austria-wide seven-day incidence per 100,000 inhabitants rises to 687.3. Hospitals are now treating 24 more corona patients. A total of 935 people suffering from Covid-19 are hospitalized throughout Austria, 264…

Read More

“Deltakron” – New variant discovered in Cyprus

admin

Cypriot researchers have discovered 25 cases of a corona strain that combines elements of the delta and omicron variants – “deltakron.” While Austria is currently struggling with the Omicron variant – numbers are rising rapidly, with authorities reporting 10,291 new infections on Sunday – more bad news reaches us from Cyprus: Researchers discovered a new variant that has Omicron-like genetic features in Delta genomes. 25 delta crone cases in CyprusLeondios Kostrikis, professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus and head of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology,…

Read More

Health Minister Wolfgang Mckstein: Normal wards decisive for lockdown

admin

Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein wants to prevent another lockdown. However, the decisive “marker” will no longer be the occupancy of intensive care units, but rather that of normal wards, he said in an APA interview. Mückstein pointed out that the probability of a hospital admission is up to 50 percent lower with Omicron than with the Delta variant: with Delta, one out of four admitted patients ends up in the intensive care unit; with Omicron, the ratio is only 1:10. And: with the Delta variant, about 20 percent of intensive…

Read More

Start of school after the Christmas holidays

admin

After two and a half weeks of Christmas vacation, school starts again on Monday. A “safety period” continues to apply until the end of February: compulsory attendance thus remains suspended, and parents can excuse their children even without a doctor’s certificate. At school there are Corona tests three times a week, one of which (from 17 January only two) must be a PCR test. A mask (FFP2 from the upper school) must be worn throughout the school building and also in class. The procedure for corona cases remains unchanged: In…

Read More

Enormous rush for PCR testing facilities in Vienna

admin

Vienna saw a huge rush for the city’s testing facilities on Sunday. In view of the Omicron variant, these are to be expanded further in the near future. The Christmas vacations are over, and tomorrow it’s back to work or school. In Vienna, the testing facilities were therefore literally stormed on Sunday, as reported by ORF. Vienna wants to expand PCR testing servicesIn order to prepare for Omicron and the increasing numbers of infections, the city of Vienna wants to expand its testing capacities. First, this is to be done…

Read More

Greece requires PCR test or rapid test before entering country

admin

Greece is requiring a negative PCR test or rapid test prior to travel starting today. This applies to all travelers five years of age and older arriving in Greece as of 6:00 a.m. local time today, regardless of whether or not they have been vaccinated. The negative PCR test must be no more than 72 hours old and the rapid test 24 hours old at the time of arrival. This regulation will initially be in effect until January 24. Travelers to Greece must also continue to register before traveling. In…

Read More

“Safety phase” at schools in Austria until the end of February

admin

The “safety phase” at schools, originally planned to end on January 15, will be extended until February 28. This was stated by the Ministry of Education in a decree to the schools. This means that compulsory attendance will remain suspended. In addition, regardless of vaccination status, testing will be carried out at least three times a week, masks must be worn throughout the school building and also during lessons (up to lower school mouth-nose protection, from upper school FFP2 mask). In this way, “attendance is to be maintained as a…

Read More