Russia's death toll hits record high, Germany mobilizes army to fight Covid-19

Germany mobilizes soldiers to fight Covid-19

The German military is preparing to mobilize 12,000 troops by Christmas to support overwhelmed health services and help with vaccinations and testing in nursing homes and hospitals, Spiegel reported. So far, 630 troops have been deployed. However, the military has not commented on this information.

According to data from the Robert Koch Institute, the weekly infection rate per 100,000 inhabitants in Germany last week reached 277.4 cases, while the peak during the third wave of infections in December 2020 was 197.6 cases.

On the same day, Chancellor Angela Merkel called on those who have not yet been vaccinated toCovid-19reconsider this decision as the weekly infection rate in Germany has risen to its highest level since the outbreak.

Next week, the federal government and the leaders of Germany's 16 states will meet to discuss tightening measures to combat Covid-19, although the three parties participating in negotiations to form a government have agreed to maintain the state of emergency from the beginning of the epidemic until December 25 as planned.

Europe has now become the epicentre of the pandemic once again, prompting some governments to consider reimposing unpopular lockdown measures.

Russia's daily Covid-19 deaths hit record high

According to AP news agency, Russia said the number of daily deaths from Covid-19 in the country is very high and the total number of coronavirus infections since the beginning of the pandemic has reached 9 million people.

The daily number of Covid-19 deaths and cases began to rise in mid-September and appeared to have leveled off last week. However, the country’s coronavirus task force said on November 13 that 1,241 people had died from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, up two from the previous day. According to the task force, Russia recorded 39,256 new infections in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 9.03 million.

The information was released after most regions of Russia ended a week-long shutdown of offices to combat Covid-19, starting earlier this week.

Russia's death toll and new cases have risen amid low vaccination rates and a lack of public adherence to preventive measures. Less than 40% of Russia's nearly 146 million people have been fully vaccinated. Russia's Covid-19 death toll is now the highest in Europe.

Greece tightens anti-Covid-19 restrictions

Greece has once again tightened restrictions on the number of people allowed in supermarkets, just weeks after easing restrictions, according to the Guardian. From November 13, supermarkets will only be allowed to accommodate one person per 9 square meters, compared to the previous rule of one person per 2 square meters.

Since November 6, people who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 have been required to show a recent negative test result to enter most indoor public areas, including banks, most stores, government buildings and hair salons.

Covid-19 developments in the world

In Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen has allowed all events, including weddings and religious festivals, to be held without limits on the number of participants. However, karaoke bars and nightclubs must remain closed until after November 30.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it is continuing the review and evaluation process to grant emergency use authorization for the Russian-made Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, after a period of delay. Currently, WHO has granted emergency use authorization for six Covid-19 vaccines, including vaccines from Bharat Biotech (India), Pfizer/BioNTech (US-Germany), Moderna (US), AstraZeneca (UK), Johnson & Johnson (US) and Sinopharm (China).