Germany to lift some curbs next week as COVID-19 peak in sight

Boards announcing a coronavirus COVID-19 test center (top) and the 72nd Berlin film festival (bottom) are pictured in front of the Berlinale Palace in Berlin, on Feb 9, 2022. (JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP)

LONDON / AMSTERDAM / WASHINGTON / ADDIS ABABA / SAN JOSE / MOSCOW / CAPE TOWN / BERLIN / KARLSRUHE – Germany is approaching the peak of the coronavirus pandemic and will next week start easing some restrictions with a view to lifting more measures in spring, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a speech on Friday.

Germany's top court said on Friday it had rejected emergency petitions filed against a targeted vaccine mandate obliging healthcare staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19

"The scientific prognoses show us that the peak of the wave is in sight," Scholz said in a speech in the Bundesrat upper house. "This allows us at the meeting between the federal government and states next week to take the first reopening steps and consider more steps for spring."

Meanwhile, Germany's top court said on Friday it had rejected emergency petitions filed against a targeted vaccine mandate obliging healthcare staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Compulsory vaccination for staff in hospitals and care facilities is due to come into force in Germany on March 15. Numerous people who will be affected had filed the emergency petitions with the constitutional court in Karlsruhe.

Germany's current coronavirus wave is expected to peak around mid-February, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said last month. 

Lauterbach has warned against lifting restrictions fast as this could sow the seeds of a new wave.

Africa

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa reached 10,981,695 on Thursday evening, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The death toll across the continent has reached 243,088, and 10,053,765 patients have recovered so far, said the healthcare agency of the African Union.

South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Ethiopia are among the African countries with the most cases. Among them, South Africa tops the list with 3,631,642 cases, followed by Morocco with 1,151,081 cases, said the agency.

In terms of caseload, southern Africa is the most affected region in Africa, followed by the northern and eastern parts of the continent, while central Africa is the least affected, according to Africa CDC.

Handout picture released by Costa Rica's Presidency press office showing Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado waving before casting his vote during general elections in San Jose on Feb 6, 2022.

Costa Rica

Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado tested positive for COVID-19 and is in isolation, the presidency said on Thursday.

Alvarado "presented mild symptoms of COVID-19 on Wednesday afternoon and proceeded to perform the PCR test, whose positive result we have already received," according to the statement.

Last week, the government reported that First Lady Claudia Dobles, who remains in isolation, had contracted COVID-19.

Alvarado, who is fully vaccinated, had tested negative until recently and even went to vote in Sunday's presidential and legislative elections.

After testing positive, the president canceled all in-person events and will continue to work virtually.

"The president is well and will be in isolation at home, in keeping with the recommendations of the doctors, and observing the necessary precautions," the statement said.

Costa Rica is registering an average of more than 6,000 new cases of COVID-19 a day, and has reported a total of 745,949 cases and 7,730 deaths from the disease since the onset of the pandemic.

Customers watch some toys inside a store with measures to limit the COVID-19 spread as Sinterklaas celebration approches in Utrecht, Netherlands on Nov 30, 2021. (ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN / AFP)

Netherlands

The Dutch government on Thursday said it aims to drop most of its coronavirus restrictions by the end of the month, as record levels of infections in recent weeks have only had a limited effect on hospital numbers.

Bars and restaurants will be allowed to stay open until 1 am as of Feb 18, instead of the current order to close at 10 pm, health minister Ernst Kuipers said in a letter to parliament.

Social distancing measures will be dropped in public places by the end of the month, but visitors will need to show proof of either vaccination, a recent recovery from COVID-19 or a negative coronavirus test.

This would also allow theatres and sporting events to reopen at full capacity, while nightclubs and festivals could get back in business with a testing requirement for all visitors.

Coronavirus infections in the Netherlands have reached unprecedented levels in recent weeks because of the highly contagious Omicron variant, but the increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals has remained modest.

The government will announce its new policies next Tuesday, following advice by its panel of health experts, Kuipers said.

An illustration picture shows vials with COVID-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes with the logo of US biotech company Novavax on Nov 17, 2020.
(JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)

Novavax

Novavax said on Thursday its two-dose vaccine was 80 percent effective against COVID-19 in a late-stage trial testing the shot in teens aged 12 to 17 years.

The trial involved 2,247 adolescents and took place between May and September last year when the Delta variant was the dominant strain in the United States. The vaccine was 82 percent effective against the variant.

The US biotech said it expects to submit applications to global regulators for the shot's use in adolescents during the first quarter.

Novavax late last month filed for authorization of the shot in US adults, a much-awaited step following months of struggles with development and manufacturing problems.

The vaccine has received authorizations from the European Union and the World Health Organization and has been cleared for use in adults in countries including the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

A healthcare worker administers a dose of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to a patient at a vaccination center in the GUM, State Department store in Moscow on Jan 31, 2022. (NATALIA  KOLESNIKOVA / AFP)

Russia

Russia's daily COVID-19 cases exceeded 200,000 for the first time since the pandemic began as the Omicron coronavirus variant continued to spread, authorities said on Friday.

New cases jumped to 203,949, from 197,076 a day earlier. The government coronavirus task force also reported 722 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales delivers a speech on stage during a reception to celebrate the British Asian Trust at The British Museum on Feb 9, 2022 in London. (TRISTAN FEWINGS / POOL / AFP)

UK

Prince Charles, who has tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time, recently met his mother Queen Elizabeth, but the 95-year-old British monarch is not displaying any symptoms, a palace source said on Thursday.

Charles, 73, the heir to the throne, pulled out of an event in the southwestern English town of Winchester that was being held to mark the 70th anniversary of Elizabeth becoming queen.

"This morning The Prince of Wales has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now self-isolating," his office, Clarence House, said in a statement on Twitter.

There was no immediate comment on his condition but a Buckingham Palace source confirmed he had recently met his mother. The monarch was not displaying any symptoms, but the situation was being monitored, the source said.

The queen confirmed in early 2021 she had received her first COVID vaccine dose, encouraging others to also have the shot, but the palace has declined to confirm whether she has received subsequent shots, saying it does not comment on private medical matters.

Charles confirmed in December that both he and his wife, Camilla, had received their booster shots. He had been at Windsor Castle, the queen's home to the west of London where she is currently staying, on Tuesday to hand out honors.

The health of the queen, the world's oldest and longest-reigning monarch, has been in the spotlight since she spent a night in hospital last October for an unspecified ailment and then was advised by her doctors to rest.

On Monday, a day after she celebrated seven decades on the throne, a Palace source said she was intending to return to normal duties, with a number of public appearances planed for next month. read more

Camilla went ahead with engagements in London on Thursday and has tested negative.

On Wednesday, the prince attended a reception for the British Asian Trust where pictures showed him chatting to other guests including British finance minister Rishi Sunak and interior minister Priti Patel.

A spokesperson for Sunak said the minister had tested negative for COVID-19 on Thursday.

In this file photo taken on July 29, 2021, US President Joe Biden speaks about COVID-19 vaccinations in the East Room of the White House in Washington DC. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

US

US President Joe Biden on Thursday said mask requirements for children would likely to start to fall away given federal plans to begin vaccinating children under the age of 5, but said it was probably premature to drop COVID-19 mask requirements entirely.

Biden told NBC News in an interview that Omicron and other COVID-19 variants had had a "profound impact on the psyche of the American people" and conceded that changing guidelines for the wearing of masks were "confusing."

But Biden said he had tried to ensure that Americans had access to ample supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, boosters and masks, and remained committed to following the advice of science advisers.

Asked if children should be required to wear masks in schools, Biden noted that 98 percent of schools were now open, compared to just 46 percent when he took office just over a year ago – and the reopenings were made possible by the wearing of masks.

He suggested, however, that could change when more children could be vaccinated. "Every day that goes by, children are more protected. We're now on the verge of being able to have shots … for young children," he said. "And so the more protection they have, probably you're going to see less and less requirement to have the masks."

The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Rochelle Walensky, told Reuters on Tuesday that the agency was sticking to its guidance for universal masking in schools given that COVID-19 cases remained high nationwide.

Officials in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, California and Oregon have said they plan to lift indoor mask mandates for K-12 public schools and other indoor spaces in coming weeks, seeking a return to normalcy as infections spurred by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus ebb.

And New York, Nevada and Massachusetts this week joined the growing list of states that have announced plans to loosen mask mandates.

Biden, asked if those governors were moving too fast, said it was hard to say if they were wrong given declining COVID-19 cases. He said he understood Americans' desire to return to pre-COVID-19 normalcy, but said his science advisers were still cautious.

"I think it's probably premature, but you know, it's a tough call," he said.

A picture taken on May 8, 2021 shows a sign of the World Health Organization at the entrance of their headquarters in Geneva amid the COVID-19 outbreak. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)

WHO

The World Health Organization's chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, said on Friday that the world was not yet at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as there would be more coronavirus variants.

"We have seen the virus evolve, mutate … so we know there will be more variants, more variants of concern, so we are not at the end of the pandemic," Swaminathan told reporters in South Africa, where she was visiting vaccine manufacturing facilities with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

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