Live Blog: ++ Restrictions in New Zealand end ++

7:09 AM

Advice on the vaccination sequence

The federal and state governments are discussing changes to the vaccination sequence this afternoon. With the aim of opening primary schools and day care centers, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Head of State Jens Spahn tasked the Minister of Health to verify whether primary school teachers and kindergarten teachers could be given higher priority for vaccination. For this purpose, the Corona Vaccination Act should be changed so that, according to the Federal Bureau of Statistics, it would move about one million affected people from the third group (increasing priority) to the second group (high priority). Several countries and Spahn support.

6:59 AM

Restrictions end in New Zealand

New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, has recently re-imposed Corona restrictions. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the lockdown should be lifted at midnight local time. A three-day lockdown has been imposed in Auckland due to three new infections. Additionally, Ardern has ordered a nationwide commitment to wear mouth and nose protection.

Due to very strict measures and close contact tracking, New Zealand has weathered the epidemic quite well so far. In the South Pacific island nation of just under five million people, there were only 1,200 cases and 26 deaths.

06:37 am

Elementary schools and day care centers are open in ten federal states

After opening in Lower Saxony and Saxony, daycare centers and elementary schools either resume or expand operations in ten other federal states. Every federal state organizes the details for itself.

05:58 am

RKI: 4,369 new infections and 62 more deaths

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has reported 4,369 new infections. This is about 60 fewer cases than on Monday a week ago. The incidence rate for seven days increases to 61.0 from 60.2 in the past. The value indicates the number of people out of every 100,000 people infected with the Coronavirus in the past seven days. The goal of the federal and state governments is a value of 50 in order to exempt the health system, from a permanent value of less than 35 and promised to open more openings. Another 62 people have died, according to RKI, after a confirmed infection with the virus. This increases the number of deaths to 67,903 within 24 hours. In total, more than 2.39 million infections have been confirmed in Germany so far.

03:43 am

Half a million dead: a memorial service for Corona at the White House

US President Joe Biden wants to commemorate the 500,000 deaths due to Corona in the United States. The White House announced that the president will commemorate the dead with a moment of silence and candlelight as part of the ceremony. Biden wanted to speak in the evening. The United States was expected to record half a million deaths in Corona since the start of the epidemic. The ceremony was also attended by First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Imhoff. By late Sunday evening, Johns Hopkins University counted about 499,000 deaths from Corona in the United States.

02:05 AM

KBV Head Jasin: Anyone who refuses AstraZeneca vaccine will have to wait

The President of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Jasin, speaks in favor of a relaxation of the vaccination sequence in light of doubts about the AstraZeneca vaccine. “If someone is offered a vaccination offer and is rejected, they should stand in line again and the others come first,” says Jasin of the Rheinische Post (Monday edition). First, the medical staff in the area must be vaccinated. Lacks any understanding of not pollinating AstraZeneca. “Then you have to say, ‘If you don’t want to, you’ve already got it. In times of scarcity, this debate is ridiculous,'” Jasin says. AstraZeneca vaccine is very effective and more effective than any flu vaccine.

01:53 am

Start of vaccination in Australia

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is vaccinated with the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine at the start of the vaccination campaign. “Today is a true milestone in our joint response to fight Covid-19 and to get things under control as quickly as possible,” TGA Chief of Health Authority Michael Kidd says on public television channel ABC. By the end of the week, more than 60,000 packages of the German factory will be initially vaccinated for healthcare workers and the elderly. The first batch of AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to arrive in Australia in the next two weeks.

1:15 am

Montgomery warns of a high number of cases in the event of a dilution

The President of the World Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, warns against easing the situation in light of the increasing number of injuries. “Anyone who talks about relaxation in times of high R is behaving totally irresponsibly,” the doctor tells Funke Mediengruppe. Because with each opening there is a huge increase in numbers. “The incidence value shows where we are currently. The R value shows where we are going. A value much higher than 1.0 threatens exponential growth again – and that is exactly the case now.” The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave a seven-day nationwide R value on Sunday afternoon at 1.10, the third time in a row it has been above the critical 1.0 level. The seven-day incidence rate rose again to more than 60 cases per 100,000 population.

12:23 AM

SPD doubts Spahn’s commitment to running fast tests that are free for everyone

The SPD doubts that Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn has promised to offer free coronavirus tests to all German citizens starting March 1. “During vaccination, we noticed that we couldn’t believe SPAN’s announcements. Corrections and corrections are still going on. I am afraid we will create the next disappointment (during testing)” – the Bild newspaper talk, says Secretary General Lars Klingbel on Politics. There are still “many questions” that Span has not answered.

06:28 am

Read the live blog from Sunday