Merkel: Germany hit by full force of Covid

 Germany is in the grip of a “dramatic” fourth Covid wave, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said on the eve of a crisis meeting with regional leaders.

Daily infections hit a new German record of 52,826 on Wednesday as European governments responded to a surge on much of the continent.

Belgium announced a series of measures in an attempt to avoid a lockdown.

“All the alarm signals are red,” said Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, as he told people to limit personal contact.

“Europe’s map is quickly going red, and we are the same.”

Children in Belgium will have to wear masks from the age of 10, rather than the current age of 12. Working from home will become compulsory from Saturday for four days a week. Passes known as Covid Safe Tickets will be required in theatres, cinemas and museums.

A third booster vaccination will be rolled out for all Belgians by the end of April 2022.

Austria which imposed a lockdown on an estimated two million unvaccinated people on Monday, reported record daily infections on Wednesday. The Netherlands, which also reported record cases, has already brought in a partial lockdown.

Sweden is introducing a Covid vaccination pass from 1 December for the first time for concerts and other indoor events involving more than 100 people. “You who are unvaccinated cannot just carry on as normal; your most important contribution is to get vaccinated,” said Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren, who accepted the measure was tough but said Sweden was not isolated from the rest of the world.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said anyone who had not been vaccinated (or could show they had had recovered from Covid-19) would be banned from accessing public events or services. From Monday, negative tests would no longer be enough.

Neighboring Slovakia, where a record 8,342 cases were reported on Wednesday, is planning similar measures: workplaces and non-essential shops will be accessible only to vaccinated staff or to people who could prove they have recovered, says Prime Minister Eduard Heger.

Vaccination rates vary across the continent. Slovak take-up is among the lowest in the EU at 44% while the Czech rate is 58%, in Austria it is 65% and in Germany 68%.

Both Germany and Austria have reported queues at vaccination centres, but they have some of the lowest take-up rates in Western Europe.

• GERMAN SURGE: Warning of 100,000 deaths

Austria also has a very high incidence rate of 971.5 cases per 100,000 people, far higher than Germany’s 319.5.

As well as its lockdown for the unvaccinated, some Austrian officials are calling for tighter restrictions for others too, such as a possible night-time curfew.

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

Image caption,

Austria has reported a record 14,416 cases in the past 24 hours, two days after it imposed a lockdown on the unvaccinated

Although Germany’s overall death toll is far lower than that in the UK, 294 deaths have been recorded in 24 hours and Mrs Merkel spoke of an emergency with intensive care beds filling up in hospitals. The UK reported another 201 deaths within 28 days of testing positive for Covid on Wednesday, and a further 38,263 infections.

Mrs Merkel called for a faster booster drive, adding: “It’s not too late to decide to get a first vaccination.”

Many German regions are now only allowing vaccinated people access to most services, including bars, cafes, hairdressers and gyms.

Politically the situation is complicated as the outgoing Merkel government is set to be replaced by a coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and pro-business liberals who aim to present planned Covid measures to parliament on Thursday.

France is being hit by a fifth wave of Covid, according to government spokesperson Gabriel Attal, with more than 20,000 new cases reported on Wednesday for the first time since Augusts. But there are no plans beyond the current Covid passport as “we are coping better than previously thanks to the vaccines and the health pass”.

He said France was light years away from the situation a year ago, and anyone aged 50-64 could now make an appointment for a third Covid vaccination.

data in detail

Scroll table to see more data

*Deaths per 100,000 people

Filter:
The world
Africa
North America
Latin America & Caribbean
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Oceania

				New Cases 0 10 100 1k 10k **
Russia	242,241	167.8	8,651,561	JAN 2020 NOV 2021
UK	141,805	212.2	9,301,909
Italy	132,391	219.6	4,808,047
France	117,893	175.8	7,217,484
Germany	96,563	116.2	4,792,465
Spain	87,504	185.9	5,025,639
Poland	77,757	204.8	3,104,220
Ukraine	77,130	173.8	3,232,035
Turkey	72,127	86.5	8,233,649
Romania	50,755	262.2	1,706,882
Hungary	31,184	319.2	892,164
Czech Republic	31,053	291.0	1,819,158
Belgium	26,131	227.5	1,414,463
Bulgaria	25,074	359.4	632,762
Netherlands	18,561	107.1	2,201,010
Portugal	18,203	177.3	1,097,557
Greece	16,295	152.1	784,904
Sweden	15,057	146.4	1,177,094
Slovakia	13,229	242.6	518,635
Bosnia and Herzegovina	11,717	355.0	257,401
Austria	11,502	129.6	883,887
Switzerland	11,274	131.5	887,446
Georgia	10,509	282.5	755,046
Serbia	10,405	149.8	1,183,025
Croatia	9,500	233.6	501,327
Moldova	8,099	304.7	345,964
Azerbaijan	7,269	72.5	547,281
North Macedonia	7,232	347.1	206,077
Armenia	6,700	226.5	321,243
Lithuania	6,135	220.1	428,541
Ireland	5,492	111.1	469,386
Slovenia	4,830	231.3	355,979
Belarus	4,745	50.1	613,927
Latvia	3,499	182.9	231,824
Kosovo	2,978	166.0	160,872
Albania	2,955	103.5	189,125
Denmark	2,738	47.1	402,561
Montenegro	2,148	345.3	148,579
Estonia	1,610	121.4	205,096
Finland	1,188	21.5	162,476
Norway	922	17.2	216,855
Luxembourg	849	137.0	82,842
Cyprus	577	48.1	125,413
Malta	462	91.9	37,904
Andorra	130	168.5	15,618
Channel Islands	103	59.8	13,684
Gibraltar	98	290.8	6,153
San Marino	92	271.7	5,588
Liechtenstein	61	160.4	3,728
Isle of Man	60	70.9	9,970
Monaco	36	92.4	3,436
Iceland	34	9.4	14,255
Faroe Islands	5	10.3	2,615
Vatican	0	0.0	27

This information is regularly updated but may not reflect the latest totals for each country.

** The past data for new cases is a three day rolling average. Due to revisions in the number of cases, an average cannot be calculated for this date.

Source: Johns Hopkins University and national public health agencies

Figures last updated: 8 November 2021, 09:22 GMT

………………………………………………………