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Read today’s most important corona news here.
10:15 am – Paris drains after lockdown announcement
Shortly after the announcement by French Prime Minister Jean Castex that a new lockdown will be introduced in 16 departments, including the Paris region, on Friday, there has been a rush for train tickets in the French capital. It soon became impossible to book a seat on a train to Brittany or the southwest. The last available seats were in first class on expensive, long detour train journeys.
It is no longer possible to travel by train to, for example, Rennes or Biarritz on Friday, according to French media. The planes to Corsica, for example, are also full. Almost all departments where the stricter lockdown will apply are in the north, from the Paris region to the Channel and the Belgian border.
The restrictions must be imposed at least four weeks in the sixteen departments because, according to Castex, the corona virus has recently been on the rise again. Schools will remain open, but all non-essential stores except bookstores will be closed. People must stay within 6 miles of their home during lockdown. Travel to other regions is not permitted.
In France, a curfew already applies from 6 p.m., but it starts an hour later from Saturday, one week before the introduction of summer time. In the region around Nice and around Dunkirk in the northwest, a weekend lockdown has been in effect for several weeks.
10.00 am – General practitioner makes more frequent referrals
Last week, GPs again referred their patients to hospitals and clinics as often as they would have without a corona crisis. That is the first time since last summer. This is reported by the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa).
According to the organization, the increase could also mean that people with health problems visit their GP earlier. Previously, health organizations urged people to just keep reporting complaints.
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Ⓒ Dutch Height / ANP
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Acute and semi-acute care is fully available in all hospitals. Care that must take place within six weeks is now available in 79 percent of hospitals. Part of this care can be provided in the remaining 21 percent.
It is different for care that can wait longer than six weeks without major consequences. This care that can be planned is partly available at 82 percent of the hospitals and only fully in 8 percent of them.
The operating capacity is also still lower than the normal number of available operating theaters.
5:13 am – Number of new corona cases in Germany has remained virtually unchanged
The number of new corona cases diagnosed in the last 24 hours in Germany is almost the same as the day before. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German counterpart of the RIVM, reported 17,482 new infections on Friday morning. On Thursday, the RKI reported 17,504 new infections, the largest increase in 24 hours since January 22.
A total of 2,629,750 people in Germany have now been tested positive for the corona virus.
On Tuesday, the RKI warned that there is an exponential growth in the number of corona infections in Germany. The number increased by about 20 percent last week from a week earlier. RKI epidemiologist Dirk Brockmann speaks of a third wave. The recently implemented eases would accelerate this.
In the past 24 hours, another 226 Germans died from Covid-19. This brings the total official number of corona deaths in Germany to 74,358.
5:16 am – More than 2,700 corona deaths in Brazil, second deadliest day
In Brazil, 2,724 new corona deaths were registered on Thursday, the Brazilian Ministry of Health reports. It marks the second deadliest day for the country since the coronavirus outbreak. On Tuesday, a record number of more than 2,800 Brazilians who died from Covid-19 within 24 hours were reported.
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A man is making a new coffin. The boxes are almost impossible to get in Brazil.
Ⓒ EFE
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Another 86,982 new corona infections were diagnosed on Thursday. On Wednesday, local authorities reported a record number of more than 90,000 infections. In total, about 11.7 million infections with the lung virus have already been diagnosed in Brazil. Both the Brazilian death toll and the number of infections are the second highest in the world, behind the United States in both cases.
It was announced on Thursday that the German Air Force will be flying eighty respirators to Brazil to assist the country in treating patients. The country of 214 million inhabitants currently has more than 8,300 people who have been admitted to hospitals in critical condition as a result of a corona infection. 1.1 million people are infected but not very ill.
Brazil has approximately 66,000 intensive care units, divided between public health care and private health institutions. However, in the vast country, the numbers of IC equipment prescribed by federal health authorities are not available everywhere.
Although the epidemic in Brazil is heading in the wrong direction, partly due to mutated variants, right-wing populist president Jair Bolsonaro continues to play down the seriousness of the virus. On Wednesday, Bolsonaro said he was happy that his supporters are demonstrating against rules around keeping their distance.
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