Albania imposes new pandemic restrictions – KIRO 7 News Seattle

TIRANA, Albania – Albania’s health authorities have taken new strict restrictive measures and warned against a possible vaccination requirement for some categories in order to prevent further spread of the new Delta virus variant.

Health Minister Ogerta Manastirliu said: “We will soon start the motion to move into a new phase of the vaccination campaign and make vaccines mandatory for some categories in the name of other people’s right not to become infected.”

Albania has seen a significant increase in daily cases this month to more than 900, up from about 100 times less a month ago.

A panel of experts extended the nightly curfew by one hour to 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. (2100-0400 GMT). Masks are compulsory in closed rooms. However, both curfew and face mask keeping rules were in place during the summer season, but the authorities did not strictly control this.

The penalties are 3,000-5,000 leks ($ 28-48) for individuals and 100,000-700,000 leks ($ 954-6,682) for businesses.

August and September were open months for vaccines for anyone over the age of 18.

There were two deaths and 768 new cases on Sunday, and about half of Albania’s 2.8 million population has received at least one vaccination.

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– For more AP coverage, please visit https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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HERE STILL HAPPEN:

SOFIA, Bulgaria – A Bulgarian health official said Monday that the government should consider “tough” anti-coronavirus measures amid a surge in infections in the Balkan nation.

At the beginning of July, Bulgaria – which has the lowest anti-COVID-19 vaccination rate in the European Union at 18% – recorded only a few dozen coronavirus infections per day, but for the past week between 1,500 and 2,000 infections per day have been recorded.

State health inspector Angel Kunchev told local television broadcaster BTV on Monday that he would recommend the Ministry of Health to take stricter measures against COVID-19, “which should apply across the country.”

“If the incidence is high, tightening the measures again is inevitable,” said Kunchev. “In companies it is imperative to maintain a capacity of 50%. A ban on mass events such as concerts and festivals can be imposed. “

Last week, the Bulgarian authorities extended the emergency epidemic situation by three months in an attempt to contain the surge in infections. So far, the country of around 7 million people has registered more than 450,000 COVID-19 infections and 18,731 people have died.

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DEN HAAG, Netherlands – The Dutch government says its financial support packages to help companies survive the coronavirus pandemic will end on October 1st.

The government announced Monday that with the economy back on track, lockdowns largely complete and unemployment low, “it would stand in the way of continued support for economic recovery.”

The government has spent around 80 billion euros ($ 94 billion) since March last year to prop up businesses that range from sole proprietorships to national airline KLM. The support is said to have helped limit bankruptcies and unemployment.

The Dutch economy is expected to grow by 3.8% this year and 3.2% in 2022. A number of targeted funding programs for educational programs and nightclubs will continue into the final quarter of the year.

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PARIS – France said it will deliver an additional 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to African countries over the next three months.

France and the African Union on Monday announced a “new partnership” in a statement that will allow Paris to supply some additional vaccines from AstraZeneca and Pfizer.

The African Union Vaccine Acquisition Trust, in coordination with the global COVAX program, will be responsible for the distribution of the doses, a United Nations-supported effort to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have fair access to vaccinations.

The African Union initiative has so far been able to buy enough doses for a price of $ 3 billion to vaccinate 400 million people, or a third of the African population, by September 2022, the statement said.

France promised to share at least 60 million cans with the poorest countries by the end of the year. It was the first rich country to donate COVID-19 vaccines via COVAX in April when Mauritania gave more than 100,000 doses

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Norway, along with neighboring Denmark, is offering a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to people with severely compromised immune systems.

The government said Monday that these people are at an increased risk of getting seriously ill with Covid-19 and that the vaccine has less of an effect on them than it does on healthy people.

The government estimates patient populations at up to 200,000 people, including patients with immunodeficiency disorders, organ transplants, cancer patients with ongoing or recently completed cancer treatment.

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark – The Danish health authorities recommended on Monday that people with severe immunodeficiency receive a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

The Danish Medicines Agency said that some people “may have an insufficient effect of vaccination against COVID-19, just as they have reduced the effect of other vaccines”.

The government agency said it was a recommendation as to which groups should be offered re-vaccination with a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine due to severely weakened immune systems.

From September 10th, Denmark will no longer regard COVID-19 as a “socially critical disease” and expire the digital passport, which is required for entry into restaurants, among other things, due to the large number of vaccinations.

More than 80% of all people in Scandinavia over the age of 12 have been vaccinated twice, and Denmark has set a goal of reaching 90% by October 1st.

BERLIN – In view of the decreasing demand for the syringe, the Berlin authorities offered a special train service on Monday for everyone who would like to be vaccinated against the corona virus.

The service ran on a circular commuter line that ran around the center of the German capital for two hours.

Officials invited anyone aged 18 and over to board and receive a dose of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine.

The health authorities are trying to make vaccination easier for people, as the rate of vaccination has decreased noticeably in recent months. Slightly more than 60% of the German population are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while the infection rates are rising sharply again.

The rolling 7-day average of daily new cases in Germany has more than doubled in the last two weeks from almost 5.2 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants on August 15 to almost 11 on August 29.

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MILAN – New virus restrictions went into effect on Monday in the southern region of Sicily, the first region in Italy to have its status postponed since a summer easing.

Sicily has reported more than 1,000 new virus cases every day since mid-August and has exceeded the threshold for occupied hospital and intensive care beds.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza said moving Sicily from a white zone to a yellow zone was “confirmation that the virus has not yet been defeated and that the priority is to continue investing in the vaccine campaign and in prudent and correct behavior for everyone” . US.”

The new restrictions come when Italians start to end the summer vacation, with Sicily being a popular travel destination.

In Sicily, people are now required to wear masks outdoors, and restaurant seating is limited to four people at a table, including outdoors.

There are no restrictions on movement and no curfews, as in the yellow zones in the previous waves.

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RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian health authorities have begun vaccinating high school students aged 16-18 in the Occupied West Bank with a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Gaza health authorities are expected to begin vaccinating the same age group later this week as part of an expected two-week blitz of all 255,000 secondary school students in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

According to the Ministry of Health, at least 843,500 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip received a single dose of the vaccine and more than 452,400 people received two doses. In the West Bank, new infections have risen sharply following the emergence of the highly contagious Delta variant.

Last week, Palestinian health officials in Gaza and the West Bank received 500,000 doses of Moderna vaccine donated by the United States through COVAX, the global vaccine exchange initiative.

But the areas lag far behind neighboring Israel. Less than half of the West Bank’s population has received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while in Gaza it is around 15%.

Israel, which has launched one of the most successful vaccination campaigns, has been criticized internationally for being slow in supplying the Palestinians with vaccines. It states that previous diplomatic agreements mean Israel is not responsible for vaccinating the Palestinians.

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PARIS – Around 2 million French restaurant and other service workers are now required to present a health passport to go to work as part of a government effort to fight viruses.

The public is already required to show the passport to visit French restaurants, attractions and many other public places.

From Monday, all employees must also show their passport, which requires proof of vaccination, a new negative virus test or recovery from COVID-19. Those who don’t risk bans or other punishment and companies that don’t abide by them face potential fines.

Almost 72% of the French have received at least one dose of the virus and more than 64% are fully vaccinated. A small but vocal minority of people who oppose vaccinations or the health passport system have held weekly protests across the country since July.

France recorded the second highest number of infections in Europe last month, but the summer surge in cases has started to subside since the government imposed stricter vaccination and other virus regulations. The country has reported more than 114,000 virus-related deaths.

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