The latest on the corona crisis – “Green Pass” in Israel is history – News

Ice hockey protective masks with a difference

In order to be able to start the preliminary round match between Canada and Russia at the Olympic women’s tournament, the players of both teams wore corona protective masks under their full visors on Monday. In the 6:1 (2:0, 2:1, 2:0) against the Russians, the players from gold favorite Canada held on to the end. At first, however, there was some confusion.

When the game started at 12:10 p.m. local time in Beijing, the Canadian players were absent from the ice. The Russian players drove around at a loss before Canada coach Roy Ryan came to the boards and spoke to the officials. Officially “for security reasons” the game was rescheduled for 1:15 p.m. local time. In fact, the players finally entered the ice surface with masks. Nothing was initially known about the exact background.

In Asia, the numbers increase after the Chinese New Year celebrations

Many Asian countries — including Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea — are facing a surge in Covid-19 infections after Chinese New Year celebrations. As the Omicron variant gains the upper hand, authorities expect the numbers to continue rising in the coming weeks.

In mainland China, local new infections continue to fluctuate: they fell to nine on Friday but rose again to 45 on Monday, most of them in the southern Guangxi region.

Chinese New Year, the biggest public holiday in China, was celebrated across Asia on February 1, although crowds and family outings are kept to a minimum in many countries.

Legend:

New Year Celebration in Shanghai. The New Year was welcomed not only in China, but in many other Asian countries.

Reuters

Portugal makes it easier for vaccinated and recovered people to enter the country

Portugal visitors who have at least one full basic immunization against the corona virus no longer have to show an additional negative test on entry as of Monday. It is now sufficient to present proof of full vaccination recognized in the EU.

Entry without a test is also possible if a certificate of recovery from Covid-19 no longer than six months ago is presented.

Despite a very high vaccination rate, Portugal is still badly affected by the pandemic, the corona emergency, which provides for various restrictions, is still in force at least March 22nd.

Despite Omicron: World trade rises above pre-crisis level

According to the IfW Institute, world trade will increase at the beginning of 2022 despite ongoing traffic jams in container shipping. Regardless of the aggravated corona situation and global supply bottlenecks, world trade gained momentum in January compared to the previous month and is now even exceeding the pre-crisis level, the Kiel economists said.

Trade in the west has so far been spared from the omicron wave. US exports in particular increased significantly in January, but imports are likely to have fallen slightly. According to the IfW Institute, a sideways movement is emerging for the EU with a slight increase in exports and a mini-minus in imports.

“With regard to trade in goods, the omicron wave has so far primarily posed a threat to China,” says the IfW Institute. The hard zero-Covid policy is a risk for the local economy. However, it is to be feared that delays in China’s container handling could also affect Europe’s trade.

The ongoing supply bottlenecks are (…) an expression of an extremely rapid increase in demand that supply cannot keep up with.

Israel lifts the obligation to have a “green passport”.

Despite record numbers of seriously ill people in the Omicron wave, the obligation for the so-called “green passport” is largely eliminated in Israel. Since Monday, people only have to show proof of vaccinated and recovered people at large events such as celebrations and weddings. It is now possible to visit restaurants, cinemas and hotels without a “green pass” and without a negative corona test.

The number of seriously ill corona patients in the country of 9.4 million inhabitants exceeded 1200 for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. On Sunday evening, the Ministry of Health reported 1255 people affected. According to the current status, however, Israel passed the peak of the omicron wave about two weeks ago. After more than 85,000 new infections in one day, 33,394 new cases were reported on Sunday.

Legend:

Israelis only have to provide proof of vaccination or recovery at major events.

Reuters/Archive

There is no compulsory test for vaccinated people entering Greece

Traveling to Greece has become easier. Since Monday morning, Athens has no longer required a negative PCR or rapid test from vaccinated people to enter the country. The authorities said that a valid EU vaccination certificate issued in the respective country was sufficient. Greece introduced the additional test requirement for vaccinated travelers last December to curb the spread of corona infections. This solo effort by Athens was criticized by other EU countries at the time.

Unvaccinated people still need a negative PCR test on entry that must not be older than 72 hours, or a negative rapid antigen test that is no more than 24 hours old.

Vietnam: Over 17 million children can go back to school

Schools are reopening in Vietnam. They were closed for almost a year due to the corona pandemic. A total of over 17 million schoolchildren can take part in classes again – nationwide by mid-February, in the capital Hanoi tomorrow.

At the same time, the government wants to promote the campaign to vaccinate children. According to media reports, she has ordered over 21 million doses of vaccine for this very purpose.

Legend:

Finally classes again: After almost a year, schools across the country are reopening.

Reuters/Archive

Swiss labor market: All signs point to recovery

The unemployment rate in Switzerland has not changed since the beginning of the year. It was 2.6 percent at the end of January and thus the same as in December, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.

A total of around 122,000 people were registered as unemployed at the regional employment centers. Compared to January 2021, that is almost 50,000 fewer.

Bigler and Platzer give Health Minister Berset bad marks

The director of the Swiss trade association, Hans-Ulrich Bigler, and the president of Gastrosuisse, Casimir Platzer, sharply criticize the role played by Health Minister Alain Berset during the corona pandemic.

While Berset initially tried to find broad-based solutions, over time he became more and more isolated, say Bigler and Platzer in a double interview with the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” (Monday edition). The other federal councilors have increasingly left the field to Berset on the grounds that they do not interfere in the interests of other departments.

In dealing with the pandemic, Switzerland had completely lost the balance between socio-political, economic and health policy aspects, said Bigler.

The rapid reaction of the Federal Council at the beginning of the pandemic remained the only highlight of the corona policy, Platzer said when asked whether there were also positive points in the corona balance sheet. Bigler described it as a solid achievement that liquidity loans were made available quickly at the beginning of the pandemic. Finance Minister Ueli Maurer and the banks have to be commended here.

Legend:

Around two weeks ago, Bigler (left) and Platzer (second from right) called for the immediate lifting of all measures.

key stone

Australia will open its borders in two weeks

Australia will reopen its borders to all vaccinated visa holders from February 21 after almost two years, according to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. However, the different states and territories of the country still have different rules, such as caps on international arrivals.

Australia had long followed a zero-Covid strategy and largely closed the Audden borders to international travel in March 2020. Ultimately, however, the government had to admit that even this drastic strategy did not have the desired effect in the long term.

Since the start of the pandemic, around 2.7 million cases of infection and more than 4,200 deaths related to Covid-19 have been confirmed in the country of 25 million people.

If you are doubly vaccinated we look forward to welcoming you back to Australia.

Canada: State of emergency in Ottawa due to protests

Mayor Jim Watson has declared a state of emergency in Canada’s capital Ottawa because truck drivers have been demonstrating against the corona measures there for more than ten days.

The protests threatened to escalate. Watson spoke to the media about a serious threat to the security of Ottawa’s citizens. The city needs more support from other communities and from the government, Watson said. Hundreds of trucks are currently blocking the streets in the city centre. The police called on residents to stay away from the city center.

The so-called “Freedom Convoy” was originally planned as a protest against compulsory vaccination for certain drivers. In the meantime, it has developed into a demonstration against pandemic measures in general and against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.