Merkel threatens to centralise Covid response as some states refuse to act

Chancellor complains her government does not yet have power to impose national lockdown

Angela Merkel has threatened to centralise Germany’s pandemic response as several of the country’s federal states refuse to implement an emergency brake mechanism on easing restrictions in spite of rapidly rising infection rates.

Related: Heroes to zeros: how German perfectionism wrecked its Covid vaccine drive

Continue reading...

Coronavirus | The Guardian

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NSW Covid update: 65 new cases as GP clinics and pharmacies drive new spread of virus

Gladys Berejiklian says people should call ahead before visiting health services and warns of higher numbers tomorrow Follow our Covid live blog for the latest updates Latest NSW lockdown rules explained Full list of Covid exposure sites and hotspots in Sydney Download the free Guardian news app ; Get our morning email briefing People visiting GP clinics and pharmacies while infected have been identified as a new driver of the spread of Covid, particularly in south-west Sydney, prompting the premier to urge people to stay at home and call ahead before visiting health services. Cases announced today also include a Covid-positive patient who attended Liverpool hospital, and a staff member at Chris O’Brien Life House, a cancer centre in Sydney’s inner west. The latter case was picked up during routine testing of staff, and further urgent testing is under way. Continue reading... Coronavirus | The Guardian
Read more

The world’s economic recovery from Covid-19 looks likely to be uneven | Nouriel Roubini

The bounce-back will be stronger in the US and China, but Europe and Japan face a slower restart Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage After the most severe global recession in decades, private and official forecasters are increasingly optimistic that world output will recover strongly this year and thereafter. But the coming expansion will be unevenly distributed, both across and within economies. Whether the recovery is V-shaped (a strong return to above-potential growth), U-shaped (a more anemic version of the V) or W-shaped (a double-dip recession) will depend on several factors across different economies and regions. With the coronavirus still running rampant in many countries, one key question is whether the emergence of virulent new strains will trigger repeated stop-and-go cycles, as we’ve seen in some cases where economies reopened too soon. One particularly ominous possibility is that more vaccine-resistant variants appear, heightening the urgenc...
Read more

Omicron could overwhelm NHS if it is as virulent as Delta, Neil Ferguson says

Exclusive: UK already experiencing ‘very explosive wave of infection’ from new variant, top scientist says Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The Omicron variant has the potential to “very substantially overwhelm the NHS” and cause up to 10,000 hospitalisations a day if it is as virulent as Delta, according to a leading scientist who helped shape Britain’s coronavirus lockdown strategy. Prof Neil Ferguson, a mathematical epidemiologist from Imperial College London, said the UK was already experiencing a “very explosive wave of infection” from the new variant. This could lead to “quite an explosive wave of hospitalisations,” depending on the severity of disease caused by Omicron. Continue reading... Coronavirus | The Guardian
Read more