LIVE | One in ten Belgians vaccinated | Inland

The number of registered corona deaths in India has increased by another 4,000 in the past 24 hours, the Indian Ministry of Health has reported. This brings the total official death toll from the epidemic to 262,317 in India.

With a further 343,144 new infections registered in the past 24 hours, the total number of infections has now risen to over 24 million. India now has the second highest number of infections and the third highest death toll in the world.

• Experts unanimously: ‘Figures very encouraging’
• Weather fewer corona patients in hospitals

This article will be updated throughout the day. Check it out here corona news from Thursday, May 13.

13:55 – Italy relaxes quarantine obligation for travelers

Italy will relax the quarantine obligation for incoming travelers from Sunday. People from the European Union, among others, no longer need to be quarantined if they can submit a negative corona test.

The new policy also applies to travelers coming from the Schengen countries, the United Kingdom and Israel. Prime Minister Mario Draghi has said the return of tourists is crucial to Italy’s recovery. The country with the third largest economy in the eurozone has been hit hard by the pandemic. The Italian economy shrank by 8.9 percent last year.

The Italians struggled a year ago with a heavy first wave of contamination. The European country was thus the epicenter of the pandemic on the continent. More than 120,000 corona-related deaths have been recorded since February last year.

After a new increase in the number of infections, fewer people tested positive for the corona virus in recent weeks. The government has therefore started to relax the measures. Since last month, the terraces are open again and cinemas and museums can welcome guests again. The curfew still applies.

13.52 – Infection rates in the north of the Netherlands are falling

The number of corona infections in the Northern Netherlands has fallen by a quarter in the past two weeks to about 160 per week for 100,000 people. This is reported by the Acute Care Network Northern Netherlands. In the seven days up to and including this Thursday, the Netherlands as a whole had an average of more than 261 positive tests per 100,000 people, the lowest number since 22 March.

More than 30 percent of all adults in the Northern Netherlands have now been fully vaccinated against the virus. It is estimated that more than 6.4 million vaccinations have been administered in the Netherlands up to and including Sunday 9 May: almost 5 million first injections and more than 1.4 million second.

“The pressure on the clinical Covid beds in the northern hospitals has decreased, but the pressure on the IC capacity remains high for the time being,” according to the Care Network for the provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe. “The limited space that arises is used for care that must be provided within six weeks to prevent health damage,” reports the organization. In the meantime, the North also regularly takes over patients from hospitals in other regions to help spread the IC pressure better.

13.23 – One in ten Belgians vaccinated

One in ten Belgians is fully vaccinated against Covid-19. According to the health institute Sciensano, 1,196,831 inhabitants of Belgium, or 13 percent of all adults, have had the necessary injections. That corresponds to 10.4 percent of the total population.

A total of five million injections have now been taken. The number of people who received at least a first shot has risen to just over 3.8 million. That is 41.5 percent of the adults, or 33.2 percent of the total population.

Corona numbers continue to decline. For the first time since March, fewer than 2,000 Belgians are in hospital with Covid-19 on Friday, a decrease of 20 percent compared to last week, according to Sciensano. 647 of them are in intensive care units, 13 percent less than last week.

The Dutch-speaking residents of Belgium are more willing to be vaccinated than the French-speakers. According to a motivational barometer of three universities (UGent, UCLouvain and the ULB in Brussels), 38 percent of French speakers refuse a vaccine, compared to 20 percent of Flemish people, writes Le Soir, among others.

10.08 – German infection rates below 100 per 100,000 weekly

The number of new infections per week in Germany has fallen back to below 100 per 100,000 inhabitants, the health authorities report. The number of new infections per week is the government’s indicator for imposing restrictions and closing companies.

Chancellor Merkel recently intervened with her government in the corona policy, mainly determined by the states, to take stricter measures. She calls that the emergency brake. This emergency brake is deployed if there are locally more than 100 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

There are now 96.5 cases nationwide, for the first time since March 20. A week ago, the number was 126. Several states, including the capital Berlin, have already announced that they want to lift restrictions in the coming days.

About 3.57 million infections have now been diagnosed in Germany and most people have been cured or had no symptoms. The country of 84 million residents now has about 230,000 active cases. Authorities say more than 86,000 people have died with or from the virus since the pandemic outbreak in the country.

08.41 – Empty seats on Australian aircraft repatriation flight

The first Australian repatriation flight from India only departs with half the passengers due to corona infections. More than 40 people, who have been detained in the country since the beginning of May, have tested positive, according to local media. They and their close contacts are not yet allowed to return, 70 others are.

Friday’s flight is the first of three the government has already scheduled. Those authorities banned all travelers from India because of the corona crisis in that country, but came back after much criticism. Although international borders have largely been closed for over a year, Australian citizens and residents have always been allowed to return from abroad.

There are approximately 9,000 Australian citizens and residents in India who wish to return home. Australia wants to have a thousand of them repatriated by the end of June. Vulnerable people are given priority. They must be tested for the corona virus before departure and are only allowed to go with a negative result.

Passengers must be quarantined for two weeks upon return. This happens in Howard Springs, among others. The remote quarantine facility in that northern city can now receive 1,000 people every two weeks. The government wants to double the capacity by June.

The entry ban for people from India will last until Saturday. Until then, people without an Australian nationality or residence permit are prohibited from coming to Australia. Violation carries a fine or imprisonment, as with disregarding the quarantine obligation in the country.

20:55 – US relax corona rules for vaccinated people

In most cases, vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear face masks or keep their distance from other people. Even between large groups of people or in buildings, these precautions are often no longer necessary, according to the CDC health service, American media reports.

The CDC is relaxing the guidelines now that a large proportion of Americans have been vaccinated against the corona virus. More than 117 million people have been fully vaccinated. That amounts to about 35 percent of the population, according to the Washington Post newspaper.

The health service hopes that the amendment of the guidelines will result in more people getting vaccinated. Americans are advised to continue to wear face masks in trains, planes, airports and other transport hubs, among others. This advice also remains in force in hospitals, for example.

The CDC emphasizes that vaccinated Americans cannot automatically leave their masks at home in other places, too. Governments or companies can still decide to make the wearing of those protective equipment compulsory.

20.15 – Amazon offers bonus to new employees with corona vaccine

In the United States, Amazon will give a $ 100 bonus to new employees who have been fully vaccinated against the corona virus. Amazon is engaged in a recruitment campaign for new employees and wants to hire 75,000 new employees in America in the coming period.

People who are already employed by the company were previously given forty dollars per injection.

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