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This article will be updated throughout the day.
- All easing postponed: ‘It is still too early’
- ‘Cabinet seems out of turn to have spoken ‘
- Major city mayors oppose lockdown extension: ‘Enforcement becomes unfeasible’
- First doses Janssen vaccine will be delivered
08.52 – Germany due to limit of 3 million infections
Germany has passed the 3 million corona infections mark. The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s RIVM, reported 13,245 new corona cases and 99 deaths on Monday.
The German health institute had called the corona situation in Germany “very, very serious” on Sunday. Sources within ruling party CDU say Chancellor Angela Merkel is in favor of new, nationwide measures to slow the spread of the virus. Merkel has spoken of a “bridge to more normalcy,” say the insiders. She added that there should be a “short bridge.”
North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Armin Laschet had also previously proposed a ‘bridge lockdown’. Merkel’s party member believes that stricter measures should bridge the period until more people have been vaccinated against the virus.
Germany has almost 84 million inhabitants. The country has now reported a total of 3,011,513 corona cases, of which nearly 2.7 million have already been cured. The official death toll from the pandemic stands at 78,452. A lockdown has been in effect since the end of last year.
08.20 – Hospitals: postpone easing sensible
The cabinet has made a sensible decision to postpone the relaxation. That says chairman Ad Melkert of the Dutch Association for Hospitals (NVZ) in the NOS Radio 1 Journaal.
“It is a wise decision by the cabinet to postpone the easing by at least a week. In other countries around us, we speak of mid-May, except in the United Kingdom. But there they are already further with the vaccination campaign. That is crucial, ”says Melkert.
Last week, reports came out that the cabinet wanted to open the terraces on April 21, among other things. However, hospitals urged to postpone the easing. Infection rates remain very high. On Sunday, the RIVM reported 8288 new corona cases. Hospitals are filling up and are treating nearly 2500 corona patients. The IC capacity of hospitals was further expanded a few days ago.
There were also concerns because not all hospital staff have been vaccinated. Melkert is pleased that this is now changing. The cabinet is accelerating the release of extra vaccines for hospital staff to prevent even more staff from being lost in the third corona wave.
07.32 – Vaccination obligation for frontier workers
New Zealand gives border workers until the end of the month to get vaccinated. Refusers risk being transferred, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. It responds to the corona infection of an employee of a quarantine center. He had missed two opportunities to be vaccinated with a vaccine against the virus.
The contamination of the border worker led to concerned reactions in New Zealand. The country has effectively halted the spread of the virus. The authorities have closed the borders to many travelers. Those who are still allowed to travel to the country must first present a negative corona test and be quarantined upon arrival.
Most people who work at the border have already been vaccinated, according to Prime Minister Ardern. However, that does not go far enough for her. “We want everyone on our front line to be vaccinated,” she stressed, according to New Zealand television. This includes hotel employees, security guards and health personnel.
06.35 – ‘Pharmacists sold at least 200,000 corona self tests’
The recently available corona self tests are in demand, the pharmacists note. “Since the self-tests are available at the pharmacy, at least 200,000 have been sold,” says Aris Prins, chairman of the KNMP pharmacy organization in the AD.
According to him, it is “very busy” in the pharmacy, after the first self-test was sold on Wednesday, March 31. “Some people immediately buy four or five, for the whole family,” said Prins.
With the rapid tests, people can take a test themselves to see if they are infected with the corona virus.
Ⓒ ANP / HH
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With the rapid tests, people can take a test themselves to see if they are infected with the corona virus. The result will then follow after about fifteen minutes. The self-tests are also for sale in some stores, for which about 5 to 9 euros must be deposited.
In the newspaper, experts do express their concerns about the use of self-tests because the results are less accurate. As a result, it can happen that a negative test result is wrongly given. The experts are also afraid that people will no longer take the trouble to go to the GGD after a positive self-test, so that the government no longer has access to all corona infections.
“If you do that self-test, the reliability for a negative result is about 85 percent. That means that of the 100 people who take the test, 15 may still be positive. So always follow the corona rules ”, Prins advises in the newspaper.
06.20 – Mayors discuss reopening plan with ministers
The 25 mayors who together form the Security Council will talk with Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus and Corona Minister Hugo de Jonge in Utrecht on Monday about the reopening plan for society. The cabinet drew up a roadmap for this at the beginning of last month.
This has been on the table in deliberations for weeks, because the mayors believe that more freedoms should be possible, especially outside, more quickly than the cabinet proposed.
On Sunday, the cabinet announced that it would postpone planned relaxation a week to 28 April. There will be no relaxation until the peak of the third wave has passed.
The mayors said earlier that they think the number of people vaccinated in the meantime should play a role in letting go of the strictest corona rules. The state of affairs regarding vaccinations is also on the agenda, as a lot of uncertainty arose last week.
On Sunday, the mayors of the four major cities said again that they think terraces and other outdoor spaces should be opened. According to them, a ‘controlled opening’ is precisely necessary to prevent contamination, otherwise the parks will be flooded.
06.18 – Virologists: ‘A week of delay will not make a difference’
With the current state of affairs, it would have been extremely unwise to significantly relax the corona measures in the short term, experts say.
06.12 – Bonaire reopens schools now that teachers have been vaccinated
Childcare and schools on Bonaire will open again, Island Governor Edison Rijna announced on Sunday. There are still many corona infections on the island. But because the teachers have been vaccinated, education can start again from Monday.
For the development of children it is important that they can go to school to learn and meet their peers there, says Rijna. That is why the doors are opened again. In secondary education, lessons are organized in such a way that teachers and students can keep 1.5 meters away. This is not necessary in primary schools. RENA says it is important that everyone at school adheres to the corona rules. Parents should not be in school longer than is strictly necessary.
109 corona infections were registered on Bonaire on Sunday. Ten corona patients are in hospital, four of whom are in intensive care. In addition, two Bonaire corona patients are in hospital in Aruba and five in Colombia.
Bonaire introduced a lockdown on March 18 due to the increase in the number of infections, which also meant that the schools were closed. For several weeks now, the population has been urged to get vaccinated. According to the figures of Friday, April 9, almost 6,000 people have been vaccinated once, more than 2,000 people have already been vaccinated twice. Almost 10,000 people, out of a population of more than 20,000 people, have registered in total for an injection.
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