Germany urges wider vaccine take-up as cases flare

GERMAN leaders made urgent calls for wider vaccine acceptance and put troops on standby to help the rollout of booster shots, while the Netherlands introduced new restrictions as a fourth Covid wave spread in Europe.

"You can tell that I am very worried," Chancellor Angela Merkel said as German cases continued to rise at a near-record pace. European cases reached almost 2 million last week, the most in a single week in the region since the pandemic started.

The Netherlands is entering a partial lockdown after a sharp increase in coronavirus infections. Shops, bars and restaurants will close early for three weeks, while crowds won't be allowed at sporting events.

Germany's military is putting up to 12,000 more soldiers on standby to support hospitals and health officials overburdened by coronavirus cases, Der Spiegel reported. The military, which has been helping with Germany's Covid response since the start of the pandemic, should also be available to assist with booster vaccinations and testing, the magazine said, citing a memo from a top armed forces official.

Lockdowns for unvaccinated people can't be ruled out, according to Christian Lindner, in line to take over the Finance Ministry in Germany's next government. Germany's military will put as many as 12,000 troops on standby to help overburdened health clinics and to speed the rollout of booster vaccines, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday (Nov 13).

"If enough people get inoculated, that's our path out of the pandemic," Merkel said in her regular podcast published on Saturday.

The number of infections in Germany continued to rise at a near-record pace, with another 45,081 cases reported for the 24 hours through early Saturday. The RKI public-health institute also recorded another 228 deaths from Covid, taking the total to 97,617, while the seven-day incidence rate climbed to 277.4.

In China, tens of thousands of university students are under lockdown on their campuses in the northeastern city of Dalian, which is battling the biggest flareup in the country's current outbreak.

The city is battling the biggest flare-up in the country's current outbreak, according to newspaper Dushikuaibao.

Two universities in Zhuanghe in Dalian have imposed the curbs since the port city discovered Covid cases on Nov 4, the report said, citing university students. Students are having online classes from their dormitories, the paper said.

Dalian has become the country's latest hotspot, reporting 40 local cases on Saturday out of the 57 new infections added nationwide. The city's authorities have urged people not to leave their homes to reduce transmission, and have halted operations at public venues deemed non-essential. BLOOMBERG