Germany’s rising infection number – 29,426 in the past 24 hours – has prompted intensive care doctors to appeal for urgent action. Chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing for a nationwide emergency brake including a night-time curfew and school closures where incidence rates are high – but legal experts have raised concerns, particularly about the curfew. Leading emergency medicine specialist Christian Karagiannidis says there’s no time to wait.
The Swiss will be able to return to cafes and restaurants outdoors from Monday, and cinemas and theatres will start allowing audiences of 50 people. Football stadiums, concerts and other outdoor events will be allowed to admit 100 people if they wear masks.
France will become the third country in Western Europe, probably this evening, to surpass 100,000 Covid deaths after the UK and Italy. There is no let-up in the country's third wave with almost 6,000 people in intensive care - the highest number since mid-April last year. President Emmanuel Macron will chair a cabinet meeting this evening on a plan to reopen outdoor catering and eventually culture venues.
Italy reported another 469 deaths yesterday evening, bringing the death toll to 115,557. But hospital numbers are falling – with 3,490 in intensive care. Italian health officials have secured another seven million Pfizer-BioNTech doses by the end of June – it’s becoming the most important vaccine for much of Europe. pg slot
The Italian consignment is among 50 million extra doses that the European Union has secured from Pfizer for the second quarter of 2021. The agreement fills a gap created by delays because of the suspended Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the limits imposed on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Meanwhile, Serbia has started production of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Russia's sovereign wealth fund says it may be exported to other countries in the region.
