News in August that moves us: Federal government agrees on new corona rules +++ Attention! Apple warns of security gaps +++ Gas surcharge at over 2 cents per kilowatt hour +++ Number of children at risk has fallen slightly
The most important news in the BRIGITTE ticker
What moves the world? What moves the BRIGITTE editors? In this ticker we summarize the most important news for you in July.
August 24, 2022
These will be the Corona rules for the fall
For the autumn, the federal states are to be given more powers in the fight against the corona virus, the federal government has now decided. The Bundestag and Bundesrat still have to agree to the adjustments to the Infection Protection Act – this means that changes are still possible. According to the draft by Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn and Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann, wearing an FFP2 mask on long-distance trains and planes would again be mandatory nationwide from October 1st and initially until April 23rd, 2023. People between the ages of six and 14 can still wear a medical mask.
A test and mask requirement should apply throughout Germany for access to clinics and care facilities. This also applies to nursing staff. The countries would be given the opportunity to react “adapted”. According to Lauterbach, the goal of corona policy remains to avoid high death rates, many lost work days and serious long-term consequences. The rules are to be imposed in several stages in the state parliament – depending on the current pandemic situation.
Step 1:
- Possibility to order a mask requirement in local public transport and publicly accessible indoor areas – exception: newly recovered and vaccinated people.
- Introduction of mandatory tests in certain facilities, such as homes for asylum seekers, prisons or children’s homes as well as schools or day-care centers.
- From the 5th school year, a mask requirement could also be imposed in schools and other educational institutions – in order to maintain face-to-face teaching.
Level 2:
- It is possible to impose a mask requirement at major indoor and outdoor events – there will then be no exception for those who have recovered and those who have just been vaccinated.
- For indoor spaces, the minimum distance of 1.5 meters and upper limits for participants could also be decreed.
For stricter nationwide measures, the Bundestag would have to determine the epidemic situation again by resolution. Lauterbach also announced that there will be no school closures. Buschmann once again warned against pandemic fatigue: “At the moment there is a feeling: Can’t all this crap be over?” He said at the press conference. “But the virus isn’t gone yet.”
August 19, 2022
Danger! Apple warns of security vulnerabilities
The multinationalApplenow warns of a serious security gap in iPhones, iPads and Macs. It is known that “this problem could have been actively exploited,” said the US company. It is now important to carry out the security update as quickly as possible. What is the problem? Apple’s warning about the vulnerability means a hacker could get “full admin access to the device,” said Rachel Tobac, head of security firm SocialProof Security. An update should primarily be made by those who are in the public eye, such as activists and journalists who could be the target of state spying, according to the “Tagesschau”.
Hacker attacks are currently increasing. The latest phishing emails come from a very real-looking one PayPalAddress. The escrow is used to send malicious invoices and demand payments. The criminals even send the emails from the PayPal domain using a free PayPal account. The problem: The mail checking system does not recognize the phishing mail as a fake because it is a big name that has already found its way into the mailbox several times. Security researchers therefore advise:
- Don’t just call an unfamiliar number that appears in an email. If you first search for the number on Google, a scam can already be exposed.
- Check your accounts directly, if there are any costs or fees, you can see them directly in the app.
- It is worth introducing higher security measures, for example multi-factor authentication.
- In the case of company computers, the IT department should always be informed if there is any doubt about an e-mail.
- If you receive a request from your bank, PayPal and Co. to pay or to hand over your data, then contact the company directly and ask. As a rule, companies do not request any personal data via email.
August 15, 2022
The gas surcharge entails considerable costs
From October, consumers will have to pay a gas levy of 2.419 cents per kilowatt hour, according to the responsible Trading Hub Europe GmbH. This means that gas customers in Germany face significant additional costs. With an average consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours per year, a family of four has additional costs of 484 euros per year. It is currently not clear whether VAT must also be paid – then it would be 576 euros, according to the “Tagesschau”.
This surcharge is intended to support the gas suppliers. Due to current events, companies have to procure gas in countries other than Russia, which is significantly more expensive. Since the companies have an obligation to deliver to their customers, they have to pay these high prices. The levy should now absorb almost 90 percent of these additional costs. The problem: If the gas suppliers are not supported, there may be bankruptcies and thus further supply bottlenecks.
Since statutory notice periods still have to be observed, the surcharge will not be collected immediately, but rather from November or December.
August 11, 2022
Child endangerment count down slightly
In the first year of Corona, a sad high was reached in the number of children endangered. In the second year of 2021, the number has now slightly decreased. According to the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden, more than 59,900 children and young people were found to be endangering their welfare through neglect, psychological, physical or sexual violence. That is 600 cases or one percent fewer than in 2020.
At the same time, however, the number of cases in which the authorities, after examining a corresponding suspicion, did not determine a danger to the child’s well-being, but found a need for help increased. With 67,700 cases and an increase of two percent, this is the highest level since the statistics were introduced ten years ago.
Almost half of the children at risk were under the age of eight, and one in four was under four. Up to the age of eleven, boys were more often affected by hazards, from the age of twelve most of those affected were girls. In total, the youth welfare offices received almost 200,000 indications of possible threats to the welfare of children last year. At 28 percent, most of the tips came from the police or the judicial authorities, 25 percent came from the general public. About a tenth of the tips came from the schools or the families themselves.
August 9, 2022
The native mosquito species also transmit diseases
A research team from the University of Hawaii concludes that extreme weather and climate change promote hundreds of diseases. They published the results in an overview article in the journal “Nature Climate Change”. Accordingly, the health risk in the course of global warming is increasing for 58 percent of the known pathogens. The researchers identified more than 1,000 possible connections between climate change-related events – such as drought, floods, warming, heavy rain – and the spread of diseases.
For example, droughts push wild animals closer to residential areas, increasing the risk of zoonosis, i.e. the transmission of pathogens from animals to humans. Floods or storms, on the other hand, can force people to move to areas where they are more exposed to certain germs. In addition, higher temperatures can promote the spread of pathogens. This could be due, for example, to the fact that pathogenic algae, bacteria and mosquitoes multiply more quickly as carriers.
In Germany and Europe, the impact of climate change-related events on pathogens is already being observed, says Renke Lühken from the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine. “Exotic mosquito species such as the Asian tiger mosquito are particularly responsible for outbreaks of chikungunya virus and dengue virus in the Mediterranean region.” But even native mosquitoes now carry serious diseases. They transmit, among other things, the dog skinworm or the West Nile virus.
August 4, 2022
The draft for the new Infection Protection Act is ready
The cornerstones for the new Infection Protection Act for the fall of the pandemic are hard-fought. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) would certainly have liked to have imposed a general mask requirement indoors from autumn, but the FDP rejected this. The compromise: the decision-making power is shifted to the federal states. The concept is divided into “winter tires”, i.e. the general rules set by the federal or state governments, and “snow chains”, i.e. the tightening measures if the situation becomes acute.
Under “Winter tires”, the federal government orders that travelers in long-distance and air traffic must wear an FFP2 mask, and staff must wear at least a medical mask. When visiting hospitals and care facilities, an FFP2 mask must still be worn and a test must be taken. Exceptions to the test: “Freshly” vaccinated or recovered people (maximum three months ago). The countries decide whether a mask should continue to be worn on public transport and generally indoors, restaurants and schools.
The “snow chains” are used when there is a specific threat to the health system. In this case, the federal government orders the wearing of a mask indoors and restaurants and testing before a visit. A mask requirement and the distance requirement should also apply at outdoor events.
August 2, 2022
Every second company complains about a shortage of skilled workers
Whether retail, construction or service providers – in Germany there is a lack of skilled workers. According to a survey by the Munich ifo Institute, 49.7 percent of companies were affected in July. “More and more companies are having to scale back their business because they simply can’t find enough staff,” says ifo labor market expert Stefan Sauer. The previous record was 43.6 percent in April this year.
At 54.2 percent, the services sector is most affected by the shortage of skilled workers, followed by manufacturing with 44.5 percent of companies complaining about a shortage. Among them are food manufacturers with 58.1 percent. Retail was hit at 41.9 percent, construction at 39.3 percent, and wholesale saw a shortage at 36.3 percent of businesses.
Even more news
That was the news in July.
Sources used: ifo.de, twitter.de, zeit.de, destatis.de, rnd.de, tageschau.de, presseportal.de, spiegel.de