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Germany is facing an increase in coronavirus cases despite more than half of the population being immunized with the booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
Cases have risen sharply in Germany, particularly in Berlin, which has recorded the highest number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days.
The Institute for Disease Control, Robert Koch said that in Berlin the incidence rate within seven days was 1,473. In Germany, 41.7 million people out of a population of 82 million, according to this institute, have been immunized with the booster dose.
The German government said the situation in intensive care units was under control and 16 percent of hospital beds are currently occupied by patients affected by COVID-19 disease. However, German hospitals will soon face large numbers of patients due to the wave caused by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, said virologist Oliver Keppler.
“I think the frequent classification of Omicron as a ‘soft’ variant would be extremely dangerous,” Keppler told dpa.
The situation in Germany is difficult because of the country’s average age, which is high, but also the number of unvaccinated people, Keppler said.
Thousands of Germans opposed the measures taken to curb the coronavirus and compulsory vaccination, and on January 22 protested nationwide.
More than 7,500 people protested in Dusseldorf, police said, and about 2,300 people took to the streets of Regensburg, where other citizens took to the streets trying to break up a protest by citizens who opposed the measures. Three protesters were detained. Meanwhile, over 1,000 citizens protested peacefully in Stuttgart and protesters stood in front of the public broadcaster, criticizing the media coverage of the pandemic.
In New Zealand, which is one of the few countries to have avoided the Omicron outbreaks, Prime Minister Jacida Ardern acknowledged that it would be impossible to avoid the spread of this variant, due to its high transmission.
She announced that from January 23 in New Zealand new measures will be applied, as nine cases have been registered with Omicron in a family that had traveled from abroad to attend a wedding.
The new measures will include wearing masks when using public transport and in shops as well as restricting rallies, but Ardern said there will be no isolation, adding that businesses can be opened and people can visit family and friends and can move freely throughout the country.
The new measures in New Zealand will be in effect at least until the end of next month.
Ardern also announced that because of Omicron, she and her partner Clark Gayford have canceled plans for their wedding.rel
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