The world is entering the second fall and winter season for the epidemic. In many countries, the number of infections has increased rapidly in recent times. So some governments are resorting to a tried and tested method: lockdown. The measure will also be reactivated in the first EU country.
In light of the renewed increase in the number of infections, concerns are emerging about the further development of the epidemic in Germany. Time and time again, politicians from various camps stress that it is a mantra that a new shutdown must be avoided at all costs. Schools and day care centers should remain open, too. Whether this can last or for how long is currently open. In other countries, blockades have been relaunched in the fight against rising numbers of infections as a tried and tested method of containing the coronavirus.
Latvia
In light of the sharp rise in the number of infections, the government in Riga pulled the emergency brakes on Thursday and flooded the country until November 15 – with sweeping restrictions and a night-time curfew. „We are all on a stricter four-week regime,” Prime Minister Krisjanis Karenz said. In Latvia, the number of new infections has recently risen to a new level. The 14-day infection rate is about 1,463 new infections per 100,000 population – the maximum value being the start of the epidemic. The European Union’s ECDC currently has the highest infection rate in Europe for Latvia.
In the European Union country bordering the Baltic Sea, only shops intended for daily necessities are allowed to remain open. Recreational, cultural, recreational and sports facilities will also remain closed, and catering establishments are only allowed to sell outside the home. Events and meetings are prohibited. Additionally, citizens are only allowed to leave their homes between 8pm and 5am for good reason. In Latvia, just over half of the population of 1.9 million has been vaccinated against coronavirus. The government has been trying for months, with only modest success, to increase the population’s low desire for vaccination.
Russia
In Russia, the lockdown will be applied again in the capital, Moscow, from October 28. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that in the fight against the growing number of Covid-19 cases, all shops, bars and restaurants will have to close again. Stores dedicated to daily necessities such as supermarkets and pharmacies will likely continue to open. The number of new infections and the number of deaths reported daily in Russia have risen to new highs again and again in the past few days. The government blames a lack of vaccination preparedness for this.
Russia’s Baltic city of Saint Petersburg has not imposed a lockdown, but it will introduce several new restrictions into public life from November 1. From then on and in the following weeks, vaccination or recovery certificates will gradually be required for more types of events or locations that are publicly available. The Kremlin recently stressed several times that no nationwide lockdown was planned. The decision on stricter corona rules rests with each region.
Ukraine
In Ukraine, too, the number of coronavirus cases has increased sharply recently. On Monday, new restrictions came into effect in some areas in the east and south of the country, which are currently particularly hard hit. The authorities are currently reporting new highs for the second day in a row with 23,785 new infections within 24 hours and another 614 deaths linked to the virus. In total, Ukraine has about 2.72 million infections and more than 63,000 deaths.
The new restrictions seem to have a positive effect: the demand for corona vaccines in Ukraine has increased significantly recently. As authorities announced on Wednesday, 226,587 people were vaccinated against the virus within 24 hours – more than at any time since the vaccination campaign began in Ukraine in February. Pictures circulated on the Internet showed long queues in front of vaccination centers in the country.
China
With a policy of not spreading the virus, China repeatedly resorts to strict lockdowns, even with a small number of infections, in order to prevent the spread of the Corona virus. Restrictions on people are currently being tightened in some parts of the country – the capital, Beijing, and some areas in the northwest have also been affected. Citizens are sometimes prohibited from leaving their apartment complexes, face-to-face teaching in schools is suspended and businesses have to close. With 28 locally transmitted infections detected, China recently reported double the number of cases the day before.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, the lockdown is no longer in place, but it is still in place. Strict measures are still in place in Auckland, the country’s largest city. And that’s since August, when the delta variant gained a foothold in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern does not want to end the strict lockdown until the country reaches its 90 per cent vaccination target. Only then will fully vaccinated people „be able to meet family and friends again, go to bars and restaurants and do the things they love with greater safety and confidence,” Ardern said Wednesday. To date, about 68 percent of people have been fully vaccinated, and 86 percent have received at least one dose.
New Zealand has been largely isolated from the rest of the world since the start of the pandemic. Until the advent of the delta variant, life for New Zealanders remained almost normal for several months. Therefore, the island nation was seen around the world as a role model in the fight against Corona.
Great Britain
Great Britain is currently facing a massive increase in the number of infections. About 52,000 new infections were reported on Thursday. The number of daily hospital admissions is nearly 1,000. The death rate was seen on Tuesday, with 223 cases reported, for the last time in March.
British Health Secretary Sajid Javid warned on Wednesday that the number of new infections each day could rise to 100,000. However, the minister said it was „at this point in time” it was still too early to justify a return to the Corona rules that were scrapped in July in much of England. On July 19, the so-called „Freedom Day,” nearly all regulations to contain the virus expired.
In the meantime, however, the call for new coronavirus measures in the island nation is getting louder. Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS, told The Guardian: „We’ve hit the limit and it’s mid-October. It would take a lot of luck not to find ourselves in a major crisis in three months.” The British Medical Association accused the government of acting with „willful negligence”.
Like many others, Taylor is calling for the government to implement Plan B, which was announced a few weeks ago, and would mean, for example, reintroducing mask requirements in crowded rooms and the requirement to show specialty vaccination certificates. events. BMA President Chaand Nagpaul also called for the immediate reintroduction of the Corona measures. The government has promised to take Plan B if the NHS is in danger of being sucked into it. „As first-line physicians, we can categorically say that this point has now been reached,” Nagpol said, according to a statement.
In the United States, the H5N1 bird flu virus is spreading among cows, and even milk from supermarkets is affected. Researchers fear that the Mo flu could get out of control.
In March, cattle ranchers in the US states of Texas, Kansas and New Mexico noticed something disturbing. Something was wrong with her cows, they looked sick. Some of the animals gave less milk than usual, the milk was thicker, and the animals appeared to have lost their appetite. A few days later it was clear: they had contracted the bird flu virus H5N1 Experts detected it in their milk and, in one case, in a throat swab. Since then, more and more farmers in the United States have reported cases of infection in their herds. Recently, the American authorities found Genetic effects of the virus in pasteurized milk From the supermarket. New samples indicate The outbreak is likely to be largerwhich the official figures indicate.
Britain is set to supply Ukraine with heavy guided bombs to help it fight the Russian invasion led by Vladimir Putin.
KYIV — Ukraine's allies want to know: As the Russian army advances in Donbas, the United States has released $61 billion in arms shipments to Kiev. Great Britain put together a $3.7 billion military package, and tiny Lithuania gave the Ukrainians the last fighter plane to fight back against Vladimir Putin.
Arms shipments to Ukraine: British send Paveway IV bomb to Kiev
For example, the medium-range ATACMS missiles that Washington sent to the Ukrainian military, according to a US media report, before Congress finally voted yes, are much more powerful. The time factor when it finally arrives has a major impact on the course of battles between the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions in the Ukraine war.
They are also highly accurate – like the ATACMS – Paveway IV guided air-to-surface bombs, which London says it is supplying to the Ukrainian armed forces as part of the latest weapons deliveries. Newsweek It will save. In this case, it is air power, which repeatedly inflicts heavy losses on Russia – especially in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
Military aid to Ukraine: Great Britain is significantly increasing its arms package
At the start of the week, the UK increased its planned 2024 military aid to the Ukrainians, who are in dire straits on the ground, by another £500m to £3.23bn. Such as, among others, the independent electronic portal for Eastern Europe Setback It was reported that these arms shipments include, for example, 160 Husky armored personnel carriers, in addition to 1,600 offensive bombs and anti-aircraft missiles. also telegraph Reports on this topic.
American news magazine Newsweek He speculates that Paveway bombs should be part of this package. The big advantage: After being launched, the bomb can glide greater distances in the air and search for a target independently or be actively guided towards a target. For this purpose, the Paveway IV is equipped with a modern laser array, which, in addition to GPS, includes both an infrared and a laser seeker on the head of the weapon. The bomb can also be directed at moving targets, such as moving tank convoys.
Ukraine War: Vladimir Putin attacks cities with huge bombs
The so-called Aurora Integrated Detonator from the French arms company Thales allows a rapidly approaching bomb to detonate in the air above the target, on impact or after penetrating the target – depending on previous programming. This means that Paveway could also be used against command and communications centers in bunkers – in theory. Because: The warhead weighs 226.8 kilograms, which is equivalent to 500 pounds. This is a lot and would certainly be enough to establish shelters in the ruins of destroyed homes, such as the ones the Russians continue to erect. But also for caches?
For comparison: Moscow is dropping FAB-1500 bombs on the front-line town of Chasiv Yar in Donbas, which, according to videos and photos on X (formerly Twitter), is currently being destroyed by Putin's brutal Kremlin regime. Like Bachmut before. Or like Avdiivka in the meantime. high Süddeutscher Zeitung (SZ) The Russian Armed Forces have been using FAB-1500 aircraft with a gross weight of 1.5 tons since January 2024 in the Ukraine war to an unprecedented extent. “One of the biggest problems is their increasing use: 80 of them a day in one place, and that has a huge impact,” military expert Michael Kaufman explained in a podcast called “War on the Rocks.” It is said to be dropped intermittently, and the warhead alone weighs 1,400 kilograms.
NATO Guided Missiles: Ukrainians are turning their fighter jets against Russia
The Paveway's advantage over Russian FAB bombs, which date back to the Soviet era, is not least its tremendous accuracy. The Ukrainians have so far demonstrated that they are capable of mounting Western missile systems in practice using pylons on the wings and fuselages of their MiG-29 fighter jets and Su-24M front-line bombers. This is now also expected for Paveway IV guided bombs equipped with the appropriate devices. (evening)
The massive volcano in the Phlegrean Fields continues to shudder – and localities are training for emergencies. A new documentary shows what a medium-sized eruption can do.
Pozzuoli/Naples – The giant volcano in the Phlegraine fields in southern Italy no longer stops shaking. As of Monday morning, more than 30 tremors had been measured within 24 hours. Both tremors had a magnitude of 1.6, but dozens of people were also reported to have felt weaker quakes.
Disaster Prevention Exercise at Supervolcano – Hundreds of students were brought outdoors
On Monday, four schools with several hundred students in Pozzuoli and the Bagnoli district of Naples were temporarily evacuated as part of a civil protection exercise. It's loud ansa.it about thatTo test the leadership levels in municipal and regional structures that will be called upon if the situation worsens.
Recently, a documentary broadcast on Swiss television shocked the whole of Italy. The documentary simulated how the maximum eruption of the Phlegrean Fields volcano would destroy Naples. The film was based on the largest supervolcanic eruption to date, nearly 40,000 years ago. In this case, the small coastal town of Pozzuoli, located directly in the caldera of the massive volcano, and its neighboring towns would literally explode.
But the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) explained that there are no signs of a huge eruption like the one that last occurred 15,000 years ago. INGV currently fears earthquakes that will be stronger than those that have occurred recently.
A new video shows: Even a moderate-sized volcanic eruption would incinerate the entire area in a cloud of embers
Science Channel Geopop.it It has now also published a documentary about the supervolcano, in which a volcanic eruption in the phlegrain fields was simulated, albeit smaller. The channel's team, led by geologist Andrea Moccia, created a 3D computer simulation of the largest eruption at the giant volcano, which occurred after the last major eruption about 15,000 years ago. After this big explosion, there were about 70 smaller explosions. The largest of these smaller eruptions was the Monte Spina eruption about 4,550 years ago Geopop taken as a model.
But it was also difficult, as you can see in the video. It is run by Moccia together with the head of the Naples News Channel department fanpage.it, Ciro Pellegrino. You can see how the ground in the famous Solvatra crater near Pozzuoli shakes and steams intensely. Lightning then strikes the crater, followed by a violent explosion and the crater spews a huge black cloud. This volcanic cloud has something special: it consists of toxic gases, smaller lava particles and ash, and its temperature is about 500 degrees.
Maradona Stadium will burn with ash reaching 500 degrees
The embers cloud rises 20 to 30 kilometers into the atmosphere and accelerates along the Earth in all directions at a speed of several hundred kilometers per hour. It would immediately burn Pozzuoli and the surrounding towns, but would also push towards the west of Naples. Among other things, the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium is located here Azzurri From SSC Naples. The documentary explains that this 55,000-seat stadium will also swallow this cloud.
However, the seats are empty. The video makers assume there will be time to evacuate the red zone area before such a large eruption occurs. Since the last eruption of Vliegrain in 1538, we know that there are enough warning signs to prevent a major catastrophe until then. In 1538, the ground rose 19 meters as Monte Nuovo erupted, Moccia explains. For comparison, he says: At the current stage, the land in the Bay of Pozzuoli has risen by 80 cm since 2016. Since the 1950s, it has risen by four metres.
No one knows where the giant volcano in southern Italy will erupt next
In addition, there were once much more violent earthquakes than today – up to magnitude 8. The largest earthquake last fall had a magnitude of 4.2. The thermal springs were also more active then than they are now. The eruption of Monte Nuovo was very small compared to the eruption simulated by Geopop – much smaller than the eruption of Monte Spina, the model Geopop simulated. Before the eruption phase, Pozzuoli Bay had risen by 60 metres.
Moccia and Pellegrino show that only three to four out of 70 eruptions in phyllgrain fields over the past 15,000 years had dimensions like the ones they simulated. The state-run INGV institute believes the next eruption will be similar to the small eruption at Monte Nuovo. But the problem is: No one knows where the next volcano in the phyllgrain fields will erupt.
It is densely populated everywhere. Even in distant Naples, the ash cloud will leave a 30-centimetre layer on roofs, which could cause many buildings to collapse. Static investigations of existing buildings are currently underway in Pozzuoli. One problem, according to Pellegrino, is that about 20 percent of the homes are black buildings that are often structurally questionable but where people live. No one can check the coils to see if they can withstand a volcanic eruption.
Recently, a new study caused a stir by identifying a new source of danger in the supervolcano. Other scientists warn that a volcanic eruption at sea could cause a huge tsunami. Scientists also marvel at the Mount Erebus volcano in Antarctica. The Earth's southernmost active volcano emits gold dust into the atmosphere every day.