Crisis as Covid-19 ravages Europe and Japan

Berlin: Germany has entered a “nationwide state of emergency” due to surging Covid-19 infections, the head of the country’s disease control agency said.

Lothar Wieler, the head of the Robert Koch Institute, said regular medical care cannot be guaranteed any more in some parts of the country because hospitals and intensive care wards are overstretched.

The German air force was preparing to help transfer patients to clinics with free beds.

“All of Germany is one big outbreak,” Mr Wieler said in Berlin. “This is a nationwide state of emergency. We need to pull the emergency brake.”

He called for urgent additional measures to tackle the rise in virus cases, which topped 50,000 for the third day running.

The Robert Koch Institute also reported

201 further deaths, taking the toll to 98,739 since the start of the outbreak.

Mr Wieler’s comments came as the upper house of parliament yesterday approved new measures to control the outbreak proposed by the centre-left alliance that emerged after the September 26 national election.

The measures include requirements for people to prove they are vaccinated, recently recovered from Covid-19 or have tested negative for the virus so they can access communal workplaces or public transport.

Vienna: Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg has said the country will go into a national lockdown from Monday to contain a fourth wave of Covid cases. They will continue until December 12, but will be reassessed after 10 days.

Students will have to go back into home schooling, restaurants and non-essential shops will close, and cultural events will be cancelled.

Starting on February 1, the country will also make vaccinations mandatory, public broadcaster ORF reported. “We do not want a fifth wave,” said Mr Schallenberg.

Latest figures show an incidence rate of 990.7 cases per 100,000 people in the past week, and Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein said imposing a lockdown was a “last resort”.

Moscow: Authorities reported a record number of coronavirus deaths across Russia for the third day in a row.

The country’s state Covid-19 task force reported 1,254 virus deaths, up from 1,251 on Thursday and 1,247 on Wednesday. It also said there were 37,156 new confirmed cases.

The daily new infections in recent weeks appear to have taken a downward trend but are still higher than during previous surges of the virus.

The latest rise in infections and deaths comes amid low vaccination rates and lax public attitudes toward taking precautions.

In total, the task force has reported over

9.2 million confirmed infections and more than 261,000 Covid-19 deaths, by far the highest death toll in Europe.

Tokyo: Japan’s Cabinet has approved a record £362 billion stimulus package, including cash handouts and aid to ailing businesses, to help the economy out of the doldrums worsened by the pandemic.

The plan includes doling out 100,000 yen (£647) each in monetary assistance to those aged 18 or younger, and aid for ailing businesses.