Berlin, November 26 (BNA) German Health Minister Jens Spahn said in Berlin on Friday that the current wave of the Corona virus pandemic is the worst to hit Germany so far, as he called for a strict reduction in contact between individuals.
dpa reported that SPANN, working temporarily with the formation of a new coalition, stopped short of calling for a complete shutdown, an option that upcoming coalition partners have ruled out.
“The situation is incredibly dangerous, and dangerous as it has not happened at any point in this pandemic so far,” Spahn said at a press conference in Berlin.
He said little was happening too late, in an implicit criticism of the incoming government.
“We have to stop this wave,” Spahn said, expressing concern about the new form that has emerged in South Africa and prompted European countries, including Germany, to restrict flights from the region.
Speaking with Spahn, the head of Germany’s disease control body expressed concern about the alternative. “We are really very concerned,” said Lothar Wheeler, president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
He noted multiple mutations in the new variant, particularly on an important barbed protein that binds to human cells. Wheeler said that, to his knowledge, the variant had not been discovered in Europe.
Wheeler described the situation in stark terms, but also declined to mention the shutdown.
“We need a massive cut in communications now and immediately,” he said in an appeal to the government. “I now expect the decision makers to take joint measures to reduce the infection numbers,” he said.
“We are standing at a crossroads. We have a choice. We can take the path that leads to chaos and a bad end…or the path that eases the burden on health services and perhaps allows Christmas in peace and also allows many people at the Christmas table.”
German biotechnology company BioNTech, which has created a new type of vaccine against Covid-19, said it is studying the new alternative and hopes to have results within two weeks.
BioNTech said it took steps with its US partner Pfizer months ago to adapt the vaccine for the so-called “escape” formula. It aims to do this within six weeks and start delivering a new vaccine within 100 days.
Amid growing calls for more restrictions, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for schools to be kept open if at all possible.
“Keeping nurseries and schools open should be our top priority,” he said at a conference of school principals via video link.
Bremen’s interior minister, Ulrich Maurer, has called for football matches to be halted, citing concerns about police officers exposing large crowds of hooligan fans.
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder has called for compulsory vaccination against the Corona virus to be implemented from the beginning of the new year during his visit to Rosenheim, the epicenter of the epidemic in his state.
“We need an effective national containment strategy,” said Soeder, an influential voice in the outbreak and head of a large and economically important country.
He called for “emergency brakes” nationwide and action to deal with the new alternative.
German authorities have announced restrictions on flights from South Africa. Under the travel restrictions, only German citizens and people residing in the country have the right to return home from South Africa, mirroring procedures in other western capitals.
South Africa’s neighbors are also likely to be affected by the ban.
The German Air Force has begun transporting Covid-19 patients from areas where hospitals are struggling to help deal with cases of the coronavirus pandemic.
A Luftwaffe Airbus A310 MedEvac, seating six, took off from Memmingen Airport in Bavaria to take patients north, in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Intensive care units in hospitals in the south and east of the country are filled with patients, while there is still spare capacity in the north and west. The situation largely reflects vaccination rates, which vary widely from region to region.
The main DAX index of the main stocks traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange fell sharply in early trading before settling at around 3 per cent at the open.
Traders indicated their concerns that there was no new South African alternative.
Organizers of Green Week, a major agricultural fair held in Berlin each year, said they have canceled the 2022 event, which was due to run for 10 days at the end of January.
Berlin Messe, the exhibition grounds hosting the event, said that all major events scheduled for January and February will be postponed as a result of the pandemic.
The International Institute of Côte d’Ivoire reported a new record level of infections nationwide early Friday from 76,414 cases detected in the last 24 hours. A week ago, the number was 52970.
The RKI put the seven-day incidence number at 438.2, up from 340.7 last week and 113.0 a month ago.
Vaccination rates vary greatly across Germany. Topping the list is Bremen, where 82.5 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated, while Saxony is at the bottom with 60.2 per cent. The national figure is 68.2 percent.
NS