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05.20 a.m .: The health authorities in Germany reported 17,051 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) within one day. In addition, 249 new deaths were recorded within 24 hours. That comes from the numbers of the RKI from Wednesday. Exactly one week ago, the RKI had recorded 15,813 new infections and 248 new deaths within one day.
The data reflect the status of the RKI dashboard from 5.15 a.m., subsequent changes or additions to the RKI are possible.
According to the RKI, the number of new infections reported within seven days per 100,000 inhabitants (seven-day incidence) was 132.3 nationwide on Wednesday morning – and thus slightly below the level of the previous day (135.2).
The RKI has counted 2,808,873 detected infections with Sars-CoV-2 in Germany since the beginning of the pandemic. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections are not detected. The RKI stated the number of those who had recovered at around 2,521,800. The total number of people who died with or with a proven infection with Sars-CoV-2 rose to 76,342.
According to the RKI situation report from Tuesday evening, the nationwide seven-day R-value was 1.01 (previous day: 1.10). This means that 100 infected people theoretically infect 101 more people. The value represents the occurrence of the infection 8 to 16 days ago. If it is below 1 for a longer period of time, the infection process subsides; if it is consistently higher, the number of cases increases.
The future DKG boss considers the consistent implementation of the Corona “emergency brake” to be sufficient
4:50 a.m .: The future head of the German Hospital Association (DKG) currently sees no need for a nationwide tougher lockdown against the third corona wave if the existing measures are consistently implemented. “If the federal states were to implement the emergency brake consistently, these would be suitable measures” to avert a health emergency, said Gerald Gass, chairman of the DKG’s board of directors from Thursday, in an interview with the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. He expects politicians to pull the agreed emergency brake when the incidence increases.
According to Gaß, the third wave had arrived in the hospitals and in the medium term it should be expected that the high number of intensive care patients from the beginning of the year would again be reached. “Nevertheless there is also positive news,” said the future DKG boss of the newspaper. »We currently have fewer new admissions of Covid patients than with the same incidence values during the second wave. That means the vaccination is having an effect. “
Another positive effect is that the employees in the hospitals who belong to priority groups one and two are mostly protected by the vaccinations that have been carried out. “We as hospitals are still in a good position to maintain care,” Gass told the newspaper. But it should not be overlooked “that we have been in an exceptional situation in the clinics for a year now and that the workload on employees is extremely high.”
In view of the shortage of vaccines, Gaß called for the second vaccination to be postponed. “Vaccination is the means to break the third wave. So we have to give as many people as possible the first vaccination, ”he told the newspaper. In particular, the particularly endangered groups of people could already be protected from severe courses in this way.
USA and Germany by far the largest vaccine investors
04.35 a.m .: The USA and Germany are by far the largest donors in the development of corona vaccines. The two countries have provided a total of $ 3.7 billion, according to a list by the Center for Global Health at the University Institute for International Studies and Development in Geneva. The USA invested almost 2.2 billion dollars, Germany 1.5 billion dollars from the state treasury. This is followed by Great Britain, which comes in at 500 million dollars. In total, the center lists investments of $ 5.9 billion.
According to this list, 98.12 percent of research funding came from public sources. However, the center said there was insufficient information on investments by pharmaceutical companies. Their contribution is likely to be underrepresented in the list, writes the center, as is investments from countries in which their own vaccines have been or are being developed.
The biggest recipients were companies like Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Biontech / Pfizer, Curvac and the University of Oxford, which helped develop AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
The Geneva center also keeps track of manufacturing and sales contracts. The data situation is even more complicated, it said. No prices were available for 71 percent of the contracts. According to the center, the prices that were published show that the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine costs between $ 6.75 and $ 23.50 per dose, the Moderna drug between $ 15 and $ 18 and the AstraZeneca drug between $ 2.50 and $ 8.00. The Chinese vaccine Sinopharm costs between $ 18.55 and $ 35.72 per dose.
Brazil registers daily maximum number of corona deaths
4.10 a.m .: In the midst of a government crisis and an out of control corona pandemic, Brazil has again registered a daily high among the corona deaths. The Ministry of Health in Brasília reported 3780 deaths related to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours on Tuesday evening (local time).
Last Tuesday, Brazil recorded more than 3,000 corona deaths in one day for the first time. A total of 317,646 people have died in connection with Covid-19, and more than 12.6 million people have been proven to be infected with the coronavirus. Only in the US are the numbers higher. Brazil has 210 million inhabitants and is 24 times the size of Germany.
The health system has collapsed or is collapsing in many places. Medicines, including those for intubating Covid 19 patients, are threatened with running out.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro played down the corona virus from the start. Most recently, the right-wing populist softened his tone a little – also with a view to vaccinations. In the face of increasing criticism due to a lack of crisis management in the corona pandemic, Brazil’s head of state replaced six ministers, and the heads of the army, air force and navy vacated their posts.
Medical officers are calling for a consistent lockdown and concrete strategies
02.55 a.m .: The German medical officers are calling for a hard lockdown in the debate about measures against the third wave of corona infections. “The vaccinations will not be able to break this third wave in the coming weeks,” said the chairwoman of the Federal Association of German Medical Officers, Ute Teichert, of the newspaper “Rheinische Post”. The contagion numbers can only be reduced with a consistent lockdown. “At the same time, we have to develop specific concepts on how to relax with a sensible test and vaccination strategy and apps for digital contact person tracking such as the Luca app – but only when the number of cases is down.” This strategy also includes precisely explaining how people and institutions should proceed if a rapid test indicates an infection with Sars-CoV-2. “The succinct hint ‘Report to your family doctor or health department’ is not enough and leaves many helpless.”
Stiko feared a possible loss of trust after the AstraZeneca decision
1:15 a.m .: After the AstraZeneca vaccine recommendation was changed again, the chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) believes a loss of confidence is possible. “It may be that trust dwindles as a result,” Mertens told the newspapers of the Funke media group. But it could also have the opposite effect. In any case, the control function of the Paul Ehrlich Institute worked well. “That should actually be confidence-building.”
Merkel, Putin and Macron talk about Russian vaccine Sputnik V.
11:34 p.m .: Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron and Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin about possible cooperation on vaccines. The exchange via video was also about the Russian corona vaccine Sputnik V, whose EU approval the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has to decide on, said government spokesman Steffen Seibert on Tuesday evening. “This evaluation is based on the same standards that apply to all other vaccines,” it said. According to the Kremlin, prospects of “possible deliveries and the joint production of this preparation in EU countries” were discussed.
The EMA is currently examining an application for approval of Sputnik V in the EU. EMA experts are expected in Russia in April to assess the production and storage of the vaccine. The Russian pharmaceutical company R-Pharm plans to produce the vaccine in Illertissen, Bavaria, from June or July.
Putin, Merkel and Macron also spoke about the Ukraine conflict, it was said from Berlin and Moscow. According to Seibert, Merkel and Macron called for the negotiations to be advanced in the so-called Normandy format to implement the Minsk agreements. Putin, in turn, expressed concern about the “Ukraine-provoked escalation of the armed confrontation,” the Kremlin said. Despite a ceasefire, there are repeated clashes between government units and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.