Austria further relaxed COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday, scrapping proof of vaccination or recent recovery as a requirement to enter shops and museums.
People in the country can now enter these public places as long as they are wearing FFP2 masks.
Curbs on the number of people attending public events have also been eased. However, spectators will have to wear face masks at events such as football matches.
People in Austria, except Vienna, will be allowed back into restaurants starting February 17, if they have tested negative. This rule applies to tourists as well.
Earlier, only those vaccinated or recovered were allowed to dine out.
Here are the latest major developments on coronavirus from around the world:
Asia-Pacific
China has given conditional approval for the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 drug Paxlovid. This is the first oral pill specifically developed to treat the disease cleared in the country.
Paxlovid has been approved to treat adults who have mild to moderate illness and a high risk of developing severe disease, Chinese regulator National Medical Products Administration said.
“This is an important milestone in our fight against COVID-19,” Pfizer said in a statement.
The pharma giant expects $50 billion (€44 billion) in 2022 sales of its coronavirus jab and therapeutic treatment. So far, the drug has been authorized in about 40 countries, including the US and Israel.
South Korea reported a record high in daily infections. The country saw 54,941 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Its total infections stand at 1,294,205 and 7,045 additional deaths in the country of 52 million people.
In New Zealand, hundreds of demonstrators protesting COVID restrictions gathered for a fifth day despite drenching rain.
The protests are inspired by Canada’s self-styled “Freedom Convoy,” trucker-led demonstrations against coronavirus restrictions.
In Wellington, they occupied and blocked several streets surrounding the distinctive “Beehive” parliament with their trucks, vans, and motorcycles.
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COVID: Truckers’ protest convoy paralyzes Ottawa — in pictures
Angry truckers
The protest in Ottawa began when a convoy of truckers reached the city on January 29 after a dayslong journey. They were angry at being required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to cross the US-Canadian border.
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COVID: Truckers’ protest convoy paralyzes Ottawa — in pictures
Growing protest
Since the convoy arrived, however, the protests have become broader in their scope. Demonstrators have railed not only against general COVID-19 restrictions, but called for the overthrow of the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — even though it is not responsible for most regulations, which are rather imposed by provincial governments.
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COVID: Truckers’ protest convoy paralyzes Ottawa — in pictures
Blocking the streets
The truckers from the so-called Freedom Convoy have parked their big rigs in the streets of Ottawa, disrupting traffic. Protesters have also set up tents and temporary shacks, paralyzing the city. Mayor Jim Watson has described the situation as “completely out of control” and warned of danger to the safety of residents.
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COVID: Truckers’ protest convoy paralyzes Ottawa — in pictures
Street protests
Supporters of the convoy have held demonstrations at key sites in the city. Residents have complained of often crude behavior or of being insulted or blocked by protesters. The mayor says the state of emergency he has announced “reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents.”
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COVID: Truckers’ protest convoy paralyzes Ottawa — in pictures
Support from home and abroad
The protesters in the capital received support from thousands from outside the city on the weekend. Financial aid was also forthcoming through the crowdfunding site GoFundMe, which has, however, since taken down the protests’ donation platform, angering some prominent US Republicans who have been backing the convoy.
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COVID: Truckers’ protest convoy paralyzes Ottawa — in pictures
As could be expected …
… former US President Donald Trump is among those supporting the protesters’ cause. He called Trudeau a “far-left” lunatic who has “destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates.” Former US Ambassador Bruce Heyman responded by tweeting: “Trump and his followers are a threat not just to the US but to all democracies.”
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COVID: Truckers’ protest convoy paralyzes Ottawa — in pictures
Counterprotesters show mandate support
The truckers’ demonstration has provoked counterprotests, with participants showing support not only for vaccination but also hospital staff. In fact, polls show that much of the Canadian public supports the measures taken to stem COVID-19. And more than 77% of people in Canada have been vaccinated.
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COVID: Truckers’ protest convoy paralyzes Ottawa — in pictures
‘We have to get our city back’
Ottawa police will soon be reinforced by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a federal force, with Mayor Watson telling CFRA radio: “We have to get our city back.” Police say that those who bring protesters any material aid now face potential arrest. But the protesters say they won’t leave until all mandates and COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
Author: Timothy Jones
Similar scenes were witnessed in neighboring Australia, where several thousand protesters gathered at the capital’s major showgrounds. Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged demonstrators to keep their protests peaceful.
Both New Zealand and Australia boast around 94% full vaccination rate.
Europe
Paris deployed thousands of police personnel as thousands of anti-COVID vaccination activists camped outside the city limits.
Paris police headquarters said nearly 7,200 police and gendarmes “are being deployed over the next three days to enforce the ban on vehicle convoys.”
The protesters drove in convoys from across France, hoping to blockade the capital. They demand a withdrawal of the government’s vaccine pass, which is required for entering into most public spaces.
“If they block traffic or if they try to block the capital, we must be very firm about this,” Prime Minister Jean Castex said.
Meanwhile, the French government announced that a negative COVID-19 test was no longer required for vaccinated travelers arriving in the country.
From Saturday “proof of vaccination will be sufficient to come to France whatever country you are coming from, just as it was before the spread of the omicron variant”, a government statement said.
Germany reported 209,789 new infections in the past 24 hours, marginally lower than the figure last week, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
The country’s seven-day incidence rose to a new high of 1474.3 compared with 1472.2 on the previous day. The RKI further reported 198 new deaths, taking Germany’s total COVID death toll to 119,877.
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The women leading the fight against coronavirus
No nonsense — Angela Merkel
Germany has made headlines around the world for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak and relatively low mortality rate. The chancellor has been hailed for her straight talk, warning that 60% of people will contract the virus. Merkel broke down how coronavirus measures should be followed to overcome the “greatest challenge” Germany has faced since World War II.
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The women leading the fight against coronavirus
Developing vaccines — Marylyn Addo
The virologist and leading professor at the German Center for Infection Research and the head of infections at the Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf is working together with her team to develop a coronavirus vaccine. She has already developed vaccines against the Ebola virus and the MERS coronavirus.
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The women leading the fight against coronavirus
Preventative measures — Jacinda Ardern
Under Ardern, New Zealand deployed widespread testing and set out some of the toughest border restrictions in the world to prevent an outbreak. On March 14, Ardern announced anyone entering the country would need to self-isolate for two weeks. At the time, New Zealand had six cases. She then banned all visitors from entering and announced a lockdown at 102 confirmed cases and zero deaths.
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The women leading the fight against coronavirus
Nationwide coronavirus testing — Jung Eun-kyeong
The director of South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been hailed as a “national hero,” with local media reports saying she rarely slept and refused to leave the office in the name of fighting the outbreak. Jung helped steer the way for deploying mass nationwide coronavirus testing.
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The women leading the fight against coronavirus
Paving the way for the EU — Mette Frederiksen
Under Frederiksen’s leadership, Denmark was one of the first countries in Europe to respond to the spread of the coronavirus, implementing strict measures in the first half of March. Among a number of actions taken, the country shut down its borders to all visitors without a valid entry visa on March 14.
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The women leading the fight against coronavirus
Quick action — Tsai Ing-wen
Despite the island nation’s close proximity to the epicenter of the virus, Taiwan managed to avoid a health crisis. Defying experts’ predictions that Taiwan would have one of the highest infection rates, Tsai’s government took early action to prevent further outbreak and introduced a travel ban on visitors from China, Hong Kong and Macau soon after the number of cases began to rise in China.
Author: Sou-Jie van Brunnersum
German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck said that the easing of coronavirus restrictions should be done in a phased and coordinated manner.
He said the first steps towards reopening should be agreed upon at a meeting between the federal and state governments.
“According to expert estimates, the peak of the omicron wave is to be expected in mid-February,” he said. “We need to clarify what comes first, what the individual stages can look like for opening up, and what are the uniform federal criteria.”
adi/dj (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
COVID digest: Austria eases restrictions
Source:
Pinoy Pop News
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