Technology

The following are current developments relating to the virus pandemic:

5.43 p.m. – The World Health Organization (WHO) announces the establishment of a center for mRNA vaccines in South Africa. The companies Afrigen Biologics and Biovac will be involved in the technology transfer, said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. According to a WHO scientist, discussions are also ongoing with Pfizer – BioNTech’s vaccine partner – and Moderna. In the best case scenario, South Africa could produce its own coronavirus vaccines in nine to twelve months.

1.59 p.m. – Bavaria’s Minister of Health, Klaus Holetschek, calls on football fans in the Munich stadium to wear masks again. “The pandemic is still ongoing, we have not yet won against the virus,” he explains. His ministry contacted the DFB to ensure that more fans wear a mask at the next games. “We are currently continuing our intensive exchange with the city of Munich. The European Championship in front of spectators is a model experiment that we are closely monitoring. We will also take this experience into account when considering regular spectators in professional football in the future.” The German team will play against Hungary on Wednesday.

1:52 p.m. – Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn advocates keeping the pandemic out of the political dispute as far as possible. In view of the relaxation in the crisis, it is now necessary to move on to a “phase of coming to terms with, not of political processing,” said the CDU politician at the German hospital summit. With a view to future pandemics, lessons must be learned from the “event of the century” Covid, which led to the greatest crisis in the Federal Republic of Germany. After suspected billing fraud in private corona test centers, a dispute arose over who should monitor more closely here in the future. Spahn had been accused by the SPD of allowing loopholes for fraudsters.

12.21 p.m. – The EU Commission has given Austria the green light for the Corona reconstruction plan and pledged funds of 3.5 billion euros. The plan meets all the criteria, says commission head Ursula von der Leyen in Vienna. The project will be financed from EU funds until 2026. As soon as the plan is approved by the EU finance ministers in July, Austria will receive 450 million euros in advance financing for the projects envisaged in the plan.

12.03 p.m. – In France, nightclubs are allowed to reopen from July 9th, the first time since the first lockdwon in March last year. This is announced by the government and is pushing ahead with its easing after the third lockdown. Outdoor catering has been open again since May 19, and restaurants, bars and cafes have been able to welcome guests indoors again for the first time in seven months since the beginning of June. According to the hospitality trade union UMIH, more than 100 of the 1600 nightclubs in France had to close completely during the Corona crisis.

11.55 a.m. – Government spokesman Steffen Seibert says that despite the current low number of infections in Germany, the pandemic must continue to be closely monitored. Mainly because of the delta variant, there could be larger local outbreaks, as the latest examples in Great Britain and Portugal have shown. Delta is much more contagious. “That’s why we have to be aware of this risk.”

10:58 a.m. – According to a participant, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned in the union deliberations to be careful in the corona pandemic. “We’re at a pleasing incidence below ten,” she says. “But that’s still three times what it was twelve months ago.” You have to find the right amount of freedom and caution. Wearing a mask is the easiest way to fight the pandemic, she says.

10:33 a.m. – Due to the corona pandemic, a maximum of 10,000 domestic spectators will be admitted to the competitions at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The organizers announce that they have agreed on this upper limit. At the same time, the public capacities of the sports facilities should only be used up to a maximum of 50 percent. The number of spectators could also be further limited if the corona situation worsened. Foreign viewers have already been excluded. For fear of the virus spreading again, there is a great deal of skepticism among the population about the Olympic Games, which are due to start on July 23 and were postponed last year due to the pandemic. In surveys, a majority has recently spoken out against the event.

09.13 a.m. – At the World Cup in Qatar in November and December 2022, only fans who have been fully vaccinated against Corona are allowed into the stadiums. The Prime Minister of the Gulf Emirates, Sheikh Chalid bin Chalifa bin Abdulasis Al-Thani, announced this in an interview with several newspapers. He added that Qatar is currently in talks to secure a million doses of vaccine if, contrary to expectations, global immunization efforts have not progressed sufficiently by the tournament. It was not clear how the vaccination should actually take place. Currently, most vaccines require two vaccinations several weeks apart.

04.25 a.m. – The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reports 346 new positive tests. That is 203 less than on Monday a week ago. The seven-day incidence continues to drop to 8.6 from 8.8 the previous day. The value indicates how many people per 100,000 inhabitants have been infected with the corona virus in the past seven days. Ten other people died related to the virus. This increases the number of reported deaths within 24 hours to 90,395. In total, more than 3.7 million corona tests have so far been positive in Germany. The Monday values ​​are usually less meaningful than those on other days of the week because not all health authorities transmit their data to the RKI on the weekend and are less tested.

03.04 a.m. – According to a survey, the majority of the 30 companies listed in the German share index (Dax) are planning to expand mobile work even after the pandemic. This is reported by the Funke media group (Monday editions), citing a survey among the 30 Dax companies. 22 companies expressed their interest in wanting to increase the number of mobile working days in the future. With the expiry of the obligation to work from home at the end of June, a dispute broke out between trade unions and employers – also with a view to a possible legal regulation beyond the duration of the pandemic. The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) criticizes the expiry of the home office obligation. “The home office regulations should have been extended,” says DGB board member Anja Piel to the newspapers of the Funke group. “We are not through with the pandemic yet and it has been proven that the risk of infection is significantly higher in closed rooms.”

02:53 a.m. – Given the spread of the Delta variant, SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach warns of the dangers for people without vaccination protection. “It is a fallacy to believe that we can afford a higher incidence if the vaccination rate continues to rise. Because the risk remains very high for those who have not been vaccinated,” Lauterbach told the newspaper “Rheinische Post” (Monday edition). “Suppose we have a vaccination rate of 66 percent, so two thirds of the population would be fully vaccinated, and the incidence would be 30. That would mean that among the unvaccinated, the incidence would even be 90. People without vaccination are thus a much higher Exposed to risk. ” The more the delta variant spreads, “the more unvaccinated people would also die”. He firmly assumes that the delta variant will also prevail in Germany.

02.49 a.m. – The President of the German Society for Internal Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DGIIN), Christian Karagiannidis, expects fewer patients in the intensive care units in a possible fourth corona wave. “If the number of infections rises again in autumn, we will have to look very closely at the new admissions to the intensive care units. If the vulnerable groups are very well vaccinated by then, there could be much less severe courses even with higher incidences,” says Karagiannidis of the newspaper “Rheinische Post” (Monday edition).

12:10 a.m. – Hesse’s Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) does not rule out a return to contact restrictions because of the contagious delta variant of the corona virus that is also spreading in Germany. “I expect the Delta variant to be the predominant variant in Germany a month from now. Then the question arises: How does which vaccine affect you?”, Bouffier tells the editorial network Germany (RND / Monday). Of course, people would travel again in the summer and it could not be ruled out that some would come back infected. “The answers to these questions will determine whether we will get a fourth wave and return to contact restrictions. We cannot rule that out.”

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