More than 290 million people have tested positive for the virus worldwide, according to John Hopkins University. More than 5.4 million infected people have died. More than 9.1 billion vaccine doses have been administered. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tested positive for the corona virus Sunday (Jan. 2). The Pentagon said Austin was showing only mild symptoms, but he would follow guidelines from the CDC health agency and spend the next five days at home in quarantine. He retains all command authority and will continue to work virtually and attend…
Read MoreNew numbers! Omicron cases have increased fourfold
Omicron is dominating Austria. In Upper Austria, the number of cases has more than quadrupled – within just one week. At Christmas, we had 107 confirmed Omicron cases, and 455 Upper Austrians are currently infected. This means that the number of people infected with Omicron in Upper Austria has more than quadrupled since December 26. In Vienna, in the chancellor’s office, there will be a Corona summit on Tuesday – also because of Omicron. A press spokesman for the General Governmental Corona Crisis Coordination (GECKO) on Sunday: “Because of the…
Read MoreOmicron forces several states to adjust their Covid rules
Because the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly, the affected countries are reacting with new measures. England reintroduces the mask obligation for older pupils, the United Arab Emirates forbids unvaccinated people to travel. Meanwhile, France decides to relax quarantine rules out of concern for maintaining daily life. Despite a recent record of more than 200,000 new Corona infections per day, France is shortening its quarantine periods. In the event of an infection, those who have been fully vaccinated will only have to remain in quarantine for seven days…
Read More3,283 new infections in Austria
Only three new deaths reported in the past 24 hours. 325 patients in an intensive care unit. In the past 24 hours, 3,283 new infections were officially registered in Austria. From Saturday to Sunday, only three new deaths related to the coronavirus were also reported. This is well below the average of 19.3 corona deaths per day over the past two weeks. Intensive care units currently have 325 patients, up three from the previous day. Occupancy declined in the normal wards, where 973 patients are currently registered with Corona disease.…
Read MoreCold front now brings fresh snow to Austria
High pressure “Christine” moves further east on Sunday, but the weather is still calm. At the beginning of the week, the low pressure influence on the northern side of the Alps will increase again. A marginal low pressure system, which moves over northern Germany in the night to Monday, causes stormy gusts at the eastern edge of the Alps on Monday. On Tuesday, another marginal low pressure system moves over Germany, which also has an influence on Austria. In the middle of the week, a cold front announces itself. With…
Read MorePope calls for courage in times of pandemic
Pope Francis called on the faithful for courage in the face of the pandemic at the Angelus prayer at the start of the new year. “We need encouragement. We are still living in uncertain and difficult times because of the pandemic. Many are afraid of the future and are burdened by social difficulties, personal problems, the dangers of the economic crisis, injustices and the economic imbalance of the planet,” the pope said Saturday. The pontiff also turned his attention once again to migrants. “When I look at Mary holding her…
Read MoreIndia reported 22,775 infections: Omicron wave feared; Tenth day in lockdown for 13 million residents of Xian
India has reported 22,775 new infections in the past 24 hours. The data show sharp increases in densely populated regions such as around the capital New Delhi, the financial center of Mumbai and the metropolis of Kolkata in the east of the country. Since the peak of the second covid wave last year, daily infection rates in India had fallen from over 400,000 to below 10,000 at times. Now experts fear a third wave due to the virus variant Omicron. Thirteen million residents of the Chinese city of Xian are…
Read MoreState Opera cancels all performances up to and including January 5
Several omicron cases in the artistic groups and the associated high number of K1 people has forced the cancellation of all performances of the Vienna State Opera up to and including January 5. The first performance affected is Fledermaus, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. today, Jan. 1, the State Opera informed. “We will do everything we can to resume performances on January 6,” emphasized State Opera Director Bogdan Rošcic. “The State Opera has been struggling with Corona for almost two years, and so far, when there has not been a lockdown,…
Read MoreAlready more than one hundred million Corona infections in Europe
The number of Corona infections since the beginning of the pandemic has exceeded one hundred million in Europe, including the Caucasus. In the 52 countries and territories from the Atlantic coast to Azerbaijan and Russia, 100,074,753 infections with the corona virus were reported by the evening of New Year’s Day, according to a calculation by the AFP news agency based on information from authorities. That’s more than one-third of the 288,279,803 corona infections reported worldwide since the pandemic broke out in late 2019. In the past seven days alone, more…
Read More