BERLIN/LONDON, Oct 2 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — The German government has launched a new health regulation to prevent Covid-19 contagion ahead of probable increased coronavirus cases in coming autumn and winter seasons.
Local authorities have imposed to wear protective FFP2 overloop NR face masks 5s – instead of surgical face masks- on long-distance trains for people aged over 14, as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and doctors’ offices. In the latter two centers, people will also have to submit a negative Covid-19 test before entering. Employees must be tested several times a week.
According to the European Union (EU) standard EN 149, FFP face masks are divided into three classes according to their filtering effectiveness, in the case of FFP2 reaching up to 92% protection.
As a further regulation, EU authorities may also introduce the mandatory use of face masks in trains and local buses, as well as in indoor areas such as stores, restaurants and assembly halls.
If the pandemic situation worsens, authorities may require mandatory coronavirus testing at schools and day-care centers, as well as the mandatory use of face masks, if necessary, in order to keep classes open, but only from the fifth grade onwards (11 years), or impose new provisions.
On Friday, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach declared that Germany is clearly facing up the beginning of an autumn and winter fresh wave, but that her country is now better prepared than it was a year ago.
LONDON: Covid-19 hospital admission toll in England has record surged since last August, due to an autumn wave of the disease nationwide, local health authorities reported.
According to the National Health Service (NHS), as many as 7,024 coronavirus-infected people have been admitted to English hospitals, accounting for a rising 37% over the 5,142 reported previous week.
Since early-2022, the British government has lifted all restrictions in force due to the pandemic and ordered to shut down the free diagnostic centers, so the NHS bases its calculations on information provided by hospitals and on weekly surveys by the Office for National Statistics.
As of Sept 14, one in 70 people in England had shown Covid-19 symptoms.
To prevent a fresh massive wave, local health authorities started off by applying a fourth booster dose to over-50s, front-line workers and those with immune problems.
The over-65s will also be eligible for a “bivalent” dose that protects from coronavirus and its Omicron variant.
UK, Europe´s most hit by the pandemic, has reached 20 million infections and 177,977 deaths since the first case was reported back in February 2020.
Out of its 68.6 million inhabitants, nearly 51 million are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and over 40 million have received the third booster dose, according to official data. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA