Unvaccinated to face strict curbs in Europe

Visitors enjoy their snacks at the annual Christmas Market outside of Vienna’s city hall, in Austria. Pic/AFP

With Europe now the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic, countries across the continent are introducing new measures to curb the resurgence, including several curbs for unvaccinated people.

Starting from Monday, the German capital of Berlin has banned unvaccinated people from entering restaurants, bars, cinemas and other entertainment venues, Xinhua news agency. Moreover, outdoor events with more than 2,000 people will also be off-limits to unvaccinated adults. German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said on Monday that Chancellor Angela Merkel is urging the federal and state governments to pull together in the face of the worsening pandemic situation in Germany.

Meanwhile, in Austria, as of Monday unvaccinated people were only allowed to leave their apartments for essential reasons such as purchasing groceries, visiting a doctor or pharmacy, or going to work. Compliance with this measure will be strictly enforced, with fines up to 1,450 euros ($1,653) for those who break the rules, the Austrian government announced on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Romania made it obligatory to wear masks in all public places and had already reintroduced a night curfew for unvaccinated people for a period of 30 days as of October 25. Access to shopping centres, restaurants, theatres and all public buildings will be restricted to persons with a digital green certificate.

Japan to start booster shots from December 1

A panel of the Japanese Health Ministry has approved administering booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine from December 1. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will initially be the only one used for the third doses, reports Xinhua news agency citing the panel as saying on Monday. Individuals to receive the booster shot will in principle need to wait eight months after their second dose, it added.

Singapore to extend VTL with India

Singapore will extend the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) arrangement with India, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. The VTLs with India and Indonesia will start to work from November 29, and those with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE will be launched on December 6.

33,67,33
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

25,40,36,628
Total no. of cases worldwide

51,11,176
Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

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