New Coronavirus News from 22 Jan 2022

‘I cried all day’: the anguish of people locked out of Japan by Covid [The Guardian, 22 Jan 2022]

BY Justin McCurry

Travel restrictions have stranded almost 150,000 students, workers and others hoping to join relatives

Late last year, Pablo Ortez quit his job, sold his belongings and prepared to join his wife in Japan, where she is studying for a doctorate.

But 72 hours before he was due to leave Argentina, he checked the Japanese foreign ministry website to find that the government had imposed a near-blanket travel ban to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

“I called the Japanese embassy and they said I couldn’t fly,” said Ortez, who has moved in with his mother and does not know when he will be able to join his wife, whom he has not seen since she visited Argentina last April.

The 33-year-old is one of tens of thousands of people with plans to study, work or join relatives in Japan who now find themselves “locked out” of a country that has maintained some of the world’s strictest travel restrictions throughout the pandemic.

The latest measures, imposed at the end of November, apply to all arrivals except Japanese citizens and returning foreign residents – new students, guest workers, technical interns and, in some cases, the foreign spouses and children of Japanese nationals.

Lewis Hussey had set his heart on studying in Japan before he graduates from university this summer. But the travel ban means the Missouri-based student has had to drastically rethink his plans.

“It’s incredibly disappointing,” Hussey, 26, said. “There have been times when it looked like Japan was about to open up, and then it didn’t. It’s frustrating because I could have considered other places. I feel like I’ve been cheated out of the opportunity to study abroad because of the inconsistent and nonsensical approach of the Japanese government.”

The World Health Organization has urged countries not to impose blanket travel bans, warning that they were ineffective in preventing the spread of the virus and created economic and social misery.

Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, is unlikely to make significant changes to the border policy, however, after a recent poll showed 88% of the public believed the measure was “appropriate”.

But it has not prevented Omicron from taking hold in Japan, which reported a record 46,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday. This weekend, large parts of the country, including Tokyo, will enter a quasi-state of emergency to relieve pressure on health services.

Japan has imposed tight travel restrictions throughout the pandemic, with moves to relax them quickly undone by waves of infections driven by new variants. The only exception came last summer, when tens of thousands of athletes, officials and journalists arrived for the Tokyo Olympics.

Aware of how mismanagement of the pandemic helped topple his predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, Kishida is hoping that travel restrictions will play well among voters during upper house elections in July.

Kishida recently said the ban would be extended until the end of February, but Jade Barry is bracing herself for more delays.

The 29-year-old was poised to fulfil her professional ambition of expanding her hairpiece business when the latest ban went into effect, forcing her to drop plans to scout locations in Tokyo for her new outlet.

“I was devastated,” Barry said from her home near Chicago. “I cried all day and my kids were wondering what was wrong with mom.

“I have been in love with Japan since I was little. Expanding my business there was a way of realising my ultimate goal of starting a life there. I still believe it’s a beautiful country, but to be banned for so long means I feel resentment towards the government.”

Stranded students have found little sympathy among Japanese politicians but have received support from some business leaders, who say the ban will stifle innovation and threaten Japan’s long-term interests as more students look to other countries, including economic rivals such as South Korea.

“I still love Japan, but sometimes I forget why"

Hiroshi Mikitani, chief executive of the e-commerce group Rakuten, has likened the ban to the isolation brought by the sakoku “locked country” policy during the Edo period (1603-1868). On the day Kishida extended the restrictions, Mikitani tweeted: “What is the point of not letting in new foreigners now? Do you want to shut Japan off from the rest of the world?”

A letter to Kishida signed this week by hundreds of academics and experts in Japan-US studies, urged his government to relax border controls to allow educators, students and scholars to enter Japan.

“They become the bridges between Japan and other societies. They are future policymakers, business leaders and teachers,” the letter said. “They are the foundation of the US-Japan alliance and other international relationships that support Japan’s core national interests. The closure is harming Japan’s national interests and international relationships.”

“It’s frustrating,” said Imane, a 20-year-old Canadian student who has waited two years to begin her Japanese-language studies in Tokyo. “It’s been two years of wasting time, waiting for Japan to open its borders.

“I love Japan so this is heartbreaking, but I can’t spend my whole life waiting,” added Imane, who preferred to use only her first name. “If Japan doesn’t open its borders this year I’m going to have to look elsewhere.”

Her frustrations are shared by Vilhelm, a student from Lithuania, who gets up at 4.30am for online classes in international business studies at a university in Tokyo.

“The most frustrating part is that I can see no end to this,” said Vilhelm, who asked that his surname not be used. “I’ve invested in studying in Japan and I feel like it is treating me very unfairly. I still love Japan, but sometimes I forget why.”

Barry took to social media to rally students and other stranded people behind a campaign to end the restrictions, with protests outside Japanese embassies planned for later this month.

“To have the opportunity to come to Japan ripped away is devastating. And I can’t imagine what it’s like not to be able to see your child because of border restrictions. The uncertainty is no longer acceptable. This is literally ruining people’s lives.”

The government responded to mounting criticism by opening the door, if only by a fraction. It will allow 87 students on government scholarships to enter in February, the chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said last week. But that leaves almost 150,000 others, mostly privately funded, who have been waiting up to two years to begin their studies.

They will continue to live in limbo, unsure of when they will be able to begin their new lives in a country that has effectively become a Covid hermit kingdom.

“Japan is damaging its soft power and its economy because it is punishing people who have a genuine interest in the country,” Ortez said. “It’s ruining its reputation. This will have long-term consequences for Japan.”

Recognising Italy's mistakes in the public health response to COVID-19 [The Lancet, 22 Jan 2022]

AUTHORED BY CHIARA ALFIERI, MARC EGROT,ALICE DESCLAUX, KELLEY SAMS AND ON BEHALF OFCOMESCOV

The Day of the Dead in Italy this year was not only a time for remembrance but also for demanding justice for lives lost to COVID-19. On Nov 2, 2021, members of the #Sereni (also known as Serene and Always United) Association demonstrated in Rome against institutional omerta (ie, law of silence) and for the restoration of a parliamentary commission to examine the management of the epidemic. This event followed 520 complaints that were filed by the association 4 months earlier against the national government, the Ministry of Health, and Lombardy region administrators.

To understand the association's objectives and the events that fuel its purpose, it is necessary to examine the beginning of the pandemic in Lombardy. The national government and regional government of Lombardy's decision to not create a so-called red zone around Alzano Lombardo and Nembro (blocking off entrance to and exit from the two communes) when COVID-19 was discovered in people at the end of February, 2020, is seen to be directly responsible for the spread of infection to other towns throughout the province of Bergamo, particularly the Seriana Valley,1 then throughout Europe. How could a different public health response have stopped the COVID-19 epidemic in Bergamo Province, which went on to become famous in spring of 2020 for corpses piled up in hospitals, churches, and cemeteries and transported by military trucks to the crematoria?

The Lombardy population was shocked by the events and the inconsistency of public health and government authorities alongside an obsolete and unimplemented pandemic plan.2
They were confronted by horror: loved ones dying at home without treatment and alone in hospital, scarcity of oxygen and respirators, and confusion in the identification of cremated bodies. The Istituto Nazionale di Statistica called the events a third world war.3

In reaction, the civil society of Bergamo organised itself into a grassroots justice movement.4

The objectives of the #Sereni Association are to obtain truth, justice, reparation, and dignity and offer emotional support in response to the pain, confusion, and resentment for the families of the deceased and the larger community. Many politicians and citizen activists have gravitated to the movement.

The contribution of anthropologists to documenting and analysing the social and political effects of epidemiological events has been crucial5 for other infectious diseases (eg, Ebola virus disease and AIDS)—for example, in Africa, where networks such as the Réseau Anthropologie des Épidémies Émergentes (of which we are members) have become central to addressing issues such as vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, and trust. Transdisciplinary research produces evidence on the actions of civil society associations, such as the Sereni Association. This evidence is key for institutions to identify and address mistakes in public health response, which is needed to support communities to prepare for future infectious threats, as recommended by WHO's Community Preparedness Unit.6

References
1.Costanzo G Sapienza D
La valle nel virus.
Edizioni Underground, Milan2020
2.Zambon F
Il pesce piccolo: una storia di virus e segreti.
Feltrinelli Editore, Milan2021
3.Blangiardo GC
Una terza guerra mondiale?.
https://www.istat.it/it/files//2020/04/Report_Una-terza-guerra-mondiale.pdf
Date: May 31, 2021
Date accessed: November 29, 2021
4.Alfieri C Desclaux A Sams K Egrot M
Mourning while fighting for justice: the first months of the NOI DENUNCEREMO association, Bergamo, Italy.
https://somatosphere.net/2020/mourning-while-fighting-for-justice.html
5.Sams K Desclaux A Anoko J et al.
Mobilising experience from Ebola to address plague in Madagascar and future epidemics.
Lancet. 2017; 390: 2624-2625
6.WHO
WHO COVID-19 social science in outbreak response. Community-centred approaches to health emergencies: progress, gaps and research priorities.
Date: Oct 4, 2021
Date accessed: November 29, 2021

‘I cried all day’: the anguish of people locked out of Japan by Covid [The Guardian, 22 Jan 2022]

by Justin McCurry

Travel restrictions have stranded almost 150,000 students, workers and others hoping to join relatives

Late last year, Pablo Ortez quit his job, sold his belongings and prepared to join his wife in Japan, where she is studying for a doctorate.

But 72 hours before he was due to leave Argentina, he checked the Japanese foreign ministry website to find that the government had imposed a near-blanket travel ban to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

“I called the Japanese embassy and they said I couldn’t fly,” said Ortez, who has moved in with his mother and does not know when he will be able to join his wife, whom he has not seen since she visited Argentina last April.

The 33-year-old is one of tens of thousands of people with plans to study, work or join relatives in Japan who now find themselves “locked out” of a country that has maintained some of the world’s strictest travel restrictions throughout the pandemic.

The latest measures, imposed at the end of November, apply to all arrivals except Japanese citizens and returning foreign residents – new students, guest workers, technical interns and, in some cases, the foreign spouses and children of Japanese nationals.

Lewis Hussey had set his heart on studying in Japan before he graduates from university this summer. But the travel ban means the Missouri-based student has had to drastically rethink his plans.

“It’s incredibly disappointing,” Hussey, 26, said. “There have been times when it looked like Japan was about to open up, and then it didn’t. It’s frustrating because I could have considered other places. I feel like I’ve been cheated out of the opportunity to study abroad because of the inconsistent and nonsensical approach of the Japanese government.”

The World Health Organization has urged countries not to impose blanket travel bans, warning that they were ineffective in preventing the spread of the virus and created economic and social misery.

Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, is unlikely to make significant changes to the border policy, however, after a recent poll showed 88% of the public believed the measure was “appropriate”.

But it has not prevented Omicron from taking hold in Japan, which reported a record 46,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday. This weekend, large parts of the country, including Tokyo, will enter a quasi-state of emergency to relieve pressure on health services.

Japan has imposed tight travel restrictions throughout the pandemic, with moves to relax them quickly undone by waves of infections driven by new variants. The only exception came last summer, when tens of thousands of athletes, officials and journalists arrived for the Tokyo Olympics.

Aware of how mismanagement of the pandemic helped topple his predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, Kishida is hoping that travel restrictions will play well among voters during upper house elections in July.

Kishida recently said the ban would be extended until the end of February, but Jade Barry is bracing herself for more delays.

The 29-year-old was poised to fulfil her professional ambition of expanding her hairpiece business when the latest ban went into effect, forcing her to drop plans to scout locations in Tokyo for her new outlet.

“I was devastated,” Barry said from her home near Chicago. “I cried all day and my kids were wondering what was wrong with mom.

“I have been in love with Japan since I was little. Expanding my business there was a way of realising my ultimate goal of starting a life there. I still believe it’s a beautiful country, but to be banned for so long means I feel resentment towards the government.”

Stranded students have found little sympathy among Japanese politicians but have received support from some business leaders, who say the ban will stifle innovation and threaten Japan’s long-term interests as more students look to other countries, including economic rivals such as South Korea.

I still love Japan, but sometimes I forget why
Hiroshi Mikitani, chief executive of the e-commerce group Rakuten, has likened the ban to the isolation brought by the sakoku “locked country” policy during the Edo period (1603-1868). On the day Kishida extended the restrictions, Mikitani tweeted: “What is the point of not letting in new foreigners now? Do you want to shut Japan off from the rest of the world?”

A letter to Kishida signed this week by hundreds of academics and experts in Japan-US studies, urged his government to relax border controls to allow educators, students and scholars to enter Japan.

“They become the bridges between Japan and other societies. They are future policymakers, business leaders and teachers,” the letter said. “They are the foundation of the US-Japan alliance and other international relationships that support Japan’s core national interests. The closure is harming Japan’s national interests and international relationships.”

“It’s frustrating,” said Imane, a 20-year-old Canadian student who has waited two years to begin her Japanese-language studies in Tokyo. “It’s been two years of wasting time, waiting for Japan to open its borders.

“I love Japan so this is heartbreaking, but I can’t spend my whole life waiting,” added Imane, who preferred to use only her first name. “If Japan doesn’t open its borders this year I’m going to have to look elsewhere.”

Her frustrations are shared by Vilhelm, a student from Lithuania, who gets up at 4.30am for online classes in international business studies at a university in Tokyo.

A woman in India whose husband is in Japan. Photograph: handout
“The most frustrating part is that I can see no end to this,” said Vilhelm, who asked that his surname not be used. “I’ve invested in studying in Japan and I feel like it is treating me very unfairly. I still love Japan, but sometimes I forget why.”

Barry took to social media to rally students and other stranded people behind a campaign to end the restrictions, with protests outside Japanese embassies planned for later this month.
“To have the opportunity to come to Japan ripped away is devastating. And I can’t imagine what it’s like not to be able to see your child because of border restrictions. The uncertainty is no longer acceptable. This is literally ruining people’s lives.”

The government responded to mounting criticism by opening the door, if only by a fraction. It will allow 87 students on government scholarships to enter in February, the chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said last week. But that leaves almost 150,000 others, mostly privately funded, who have been waiting up to two years to begin their studies.

They will continue to live in limbo, unsure of when they will be able to begin their new lives in a country that has effectively become a Covid hermit kingdom.

“Japan is damaging its soft power and its economy because it is punishing people who have a genuine interest in the country,” Ortez said. “It’s ruining its reputation. This will have long-term consequences for Japan.”

COVID: Germany's bars and restaurants in despair amid changing pandemic curbs [DW (English), 22 Jan 2022]

BY Sabine Kinkartz

In Germany, people have become used to staying home and eating at home. The owners of bars and restaurants say their business is all but dead.

In Germany, it is generally only people who have been fully vaccinated (three shots) who are allowed to step inside a restaurant or cafe without first taking a COVID-19 test.

In early January, Tim Mälzer, a restaurateur and celebrity TV chef, announced in an Instagram video that he was shutting down his restaurant in Hamburg because of the likelihood that Germany would be tightening COVID rules for restaurants, bars and cafes. In other words, the catering sector would have to introduce 2G+ rules across the country.

2G means "vaccinated" or "recovered" (Ger: "Geimpft" or "Genesen"). Make it 2G+ and a negative coronavirus test is also required. The only exception is for people who have triple vaccination. Tim Mälzer says he expects to reopen his restaurant in February: "In accordance, of course, with all official and enforceable 2G+ rules."

"Enforceable" 2G+ rules? Other restaurateurs, meanwhile, are not beating about the bush. They talk of "a stab in the back," a "catastrophe for businesses." Some said they would rather face another lockdown than implement 2G+ rules outlined in an agreement reached by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the leaders of Germany's federal states in response to rising infection rates across the country.

Lonely days behind the bar
The best way to find out what kind of impact 2G+ is having on the catering sector is to visit places where the new rules already came into force at the end of last year. That is the case with the northern state of Lower Saxony.

Initially, even people who had been triple vaccinated were required to undergo testing before entering a restaurant there. The result, says Robert Vogel, who runs Cafe Esprit in the university town of Göttingen, was "that simply nobody turned up. Nobody!”

Vogel spent two days on his own in the cafe, sending members of staff home. "Then, 48 hours later, authorities made a sudden turnabout, and people who were fully vaccinated didn't after all have to be tested as well," he says.

But, he says, that hardly made a difference, either. "Fact is, the politicians don't have any idea at all about the realities of the catering industry. The bottom line is: People just aren't going to get tested just to have a cup of coffee," he says.

Following massive protests, the state government in Lower Saxony backpedaled. Since mid-December, owners of cafes and restaurants could choose between 2G+ with testing for everybody or 2G if seating capacity was reduced to 70% of previous levels. "It was total chaos," remembers Robert Vogel: "The phone was ringing off the hook. Guests wanted to know what was what." Vogel opted for 2G.

Economic disaster
Cafe Esprit is open 364 days a year, from nine in the morning to two o'clock the next morning. "We do the best breakfast in Göttingen," boasts Vogel, while two waitresses carry trays laden with fresh rolls, fruit, cheese and scrambled eggs across the cafe. In the background, an espresso machine is hissing happily. About half the tables in the cafe are occupied.

"Business is not bad right now. But it's not likely to stay this way all day," says Vogel with a frown. Things begin to slow down after lunchtime, and in the evening most restaurants in town are pretty empty, he says. "The catering trade is disappearing from people's minds," he says with regret. "People are living tense lives. And they've got used to staying home and eating at home."

Olaf Feuerstein blames it on "the sheer quantity of regulations, changes, amendments." Feuerstein, who is head of Göttingen's Hotel and Restaurant Association, says it's impossible to keep up with the constant changes. His association represents 140 businesses. But a third of them have already given up the fight and closed their doors.

In a bid to survive, nearly all of the remaining businesses opted for 2G and against compulsory testing: "In the best-case scenario, it's a zero-sum game, while the alternative is to turn a loss," Feuerstein says.

Grants and subsidies recalled
Robert Vogel can only agree with that assessment. He describes his current situation as an "economic disaster."

"In December 2019, we sold gift vouchers for the cafe worth around €6,000 ($6,800). In December 2021, it was just €128," he says. For months now, he has been living from his savings and says his pension fund has now been used up.

Anybody who can prove a loss in turnover of more than 30% is entitled to financial support from the state. In the lockdown in November 2020 and May 2021, a lot of people in the catering trade took advantage of these subsidies. The first payments were, says Vogel, a "real bonanza."

In the meantime, though, auditors have been taking a closer look at what payments were made and on what basis. For some, that's led to bad news. "I know people who have had to pay back everything," Vogel says.

The state of Lower Saxony has joined ranks with Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt, and, for the time being at least, they are not applying the agreement on 2G+ in the catering business. The idea is to avoid doing anything that will put even more jobs and businesses at risk. And the eastern state of Thüringia says it will enforce tougher measures only in infection hotspots.

In other states, however, 2G+ is in force, although there are important distinctions. Berlin restaurateur Vincenzo Berenyi says he had to do a lot of research to find out whether individuals who have been vaccinated twice and then recovered from a COVID infection are in the same category as people who have had three jabs — which is standard practice in North-Rhine Westphalia. But, he was firmly told, that is not the case in Berlin.

The new coronavirus variant omicron has already spread so rapidly in Berlin that the seven-day incidence rate for new infections per 100,000 residents is over 1,000. Against this alarming backdrop, Berenyi now concedes that 2G+ might be "irritating, but it's also necessary … something we're going to have to get used to."

He is determined that his restaurant will survive the pandemic. For January, he has applied for financial assistance from three state funds, including a grant of €3,000 to meet additional costs arising from the 2G+ checks. To cut back expenditure, he has stopped taking on any new staff if people leave. "Our dishwasher handed in his notice. But I'll take care of that myself now," he says.

Will things get back to normal? And when? It's simply not possible to tell, says Berenyi. But there's one thing he is sure about: "The 2G+ rules are certainly going to remain in place until mid-May."

Germany Declares Most Countries 'High Risk Areas' [The Berlin Spectator, 22 Jan 2022]

By Imanuel Marcus

From the perspective of Germany, 145 countries in the world are ‘High Risk Areas’. Nineteen more will be added on Sunday. By now, it would be a lot easier to declare the entire world a ‘High Risk Area’ and list the few exceptions.

Berlin, January 22nd, 2022 (The Berlin Spectator) — There are 195 countries in the world.
Germany has declared 145 of them ‘High Risk Areas’ because their extremely high Coronavirus infection numbers make them dangerous places. When the Federal Republic is done adding nineteen more countries to the list tomorrow, Ukraine and the Vatican will be the only spots in Europe that are not ‘High Risk Areas’. Well, Germany itself is not on the list either, but it definitely would be if it was a foreign country.

Long List

These are the nineteen countries that will be ‘High Risk Areas’ from Sunday, January 23rd, 2022:
• Algeria
• Bhutan
• Brazil
• Chile
• Ecuador
• India
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Kosovo
• Maldives
• Moldova
• Mongolia
• Morocco
• Nepal
• Paraguay
• Romania
• Saudi Arabia
• Tunisia
• Uzbekistan

An this is the entire list of ‘High Risk Areas’ in the world (includes the 19 countries that are being added on Sunday, January 23rd, 2022):
• Albania (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Algeria (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Andorra (high-risk area since 19 December 2021)
• Angola (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Antigua and Barbuda (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Argentina (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Australia (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Austria with the exception of the municipality of Mittelberg and Jungholz and Risstal
in the municipal area of Vomp and Eben am Achensee (high-risk area since 16
January 2022)
• Bahamas (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Bahrain (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Barbados (high-risk area since 19 September 2021)
• Belarus (high-risk area since 1 October 2021)
• Belgium (high-risk area since 21 November 2021)
• Belize (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Benin (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Bhutan (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Bolivia, Plurinational State of (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Botswana (high-risk area since 4 January 2022)
• Brazil (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Bulgaria (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Burkina Faso (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Burundi (high-risk area since 26 September 2021)
• Cabo Verde (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Cameroon (high-risk area since 24 October 2021)
• Canada (high-risk area since 1 January 2022)
• Central African Republic (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Chad (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Chile (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Colombia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Comoros (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Congo, Democratic Republic of the (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Congo, Republic of the (high-risk area since 24 October 2021)
• Costa Rica (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Côte d’Ivoire (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Croatia (high-risk area since 24 October 2021)
• Cyprus (high-risk area since 25 December 2021)
• Czech Republic (high-risk area since 14 November 2021)
• Denmark including the Faroe Islands and Greenland (high-risk area since 19
December 2021)
• Djibouti (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Dominica (high-risk area since 22 August 2021)
• Dominican Republic (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Ecuador (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Egypt (high-risk area since 24 January 2021)
• Equatorial Guinea (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Eritrea (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Estonia (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Eswatini (high-risk area since 4 January 2022)
• Ethiopia (high-risk area since 26 September 2021)
• Fiji (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Finland (high-risk area since 25 December 2021)
• France (high-risk area since 19 December 2021) and the following French overseas
departments and overseas territories:
o Guadeloupe (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Guiana (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Martinique (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Mayotte (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Réunion (high-risk area since 19 December 2021)
o Saint Barthélemy (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Saint Martin (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Saint Pierre and Miquelon (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Gabon (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Gambia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Georgia (high-risk area since 25 July 2021)
• Ghana (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Greece (high-risk area since 21 November 2021)
• Grenada (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Guinea (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Guinea-Bissau (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Guyana (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Haiti (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Hungary (high-risk area since 14 November 2021)
• Iceland (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• India (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Ireland (high-risk area since 21 November 2021)
• Israel (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Italy (high-risk area since 1 January 2022)
• Jamaica (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Japan (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Jordan (high-risk area since 5 December 2021)
• Kazakhstan (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Kenya (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Korea (Democratic People’s Republic) (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Kosovo (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Kuwait (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Latvia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (high-risk area since 14 November 2021)
• Lebanon (high-risk area since 19 December 2021)
• Lesotho (high-risk area since 4 January 2022)
• Liberia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Libya (high-risk area since 18 July 2021)
• Liechtenstein (high-risk area since 5 December 2021)
• Lithuania (high-risk area since 1 October 2021)
• Luxembourg (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Madagascar (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Malawi (high-risk area since 4 January 2022)
• Maldives (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Mali (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Malta (high-risk area since 1 January 2022)
• Mauritania (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Mexico (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Moldova, Republic of (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Monaco (high-risk area since 25 December 2021)
• Mongolia (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Montenegro (high-risk area since 15 August 2021)
• Morocco (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Mozambique (high-risk area since 4 January 2022)
• Namibia (high-risk area since 4 January 2022)
• Nepal (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Netherlands (high-risk area since 21 November 2021) and alloverseas parts of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
o Aruba (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Bonaire (high-risk area since 27 July 2021)
o Curaçao (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Sint Eustatius (high-risk area since 27 July 2021)
o Saba (high-risk area since 27 July 2021)
o Sint Maarten (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Niger (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Nigeria (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• North Macedonia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Norway (high-risk area since 19 December 2021)
• Panama (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Papua New Guinea (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Paraguay (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Peru (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Philippines (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Poland (high-risk area since 5 December 2021)
• Portugal incl. the Azores and Madeira (high-risk area since 25 December 2021)
• Qatar (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Romania (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Russian Federation (high-risk area since 7 July 2021)
• Rwanda (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Saint Kitts and Nevis (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Saint Lucia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• San Marino (high-risk area since 1 January 2022)
• São Tomé and Príncipe (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Saudi Arabia (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Senegal (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Serbia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Seychelles (high-risk area since 14 February 2021)
• Sierra Leone (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Slovakia (high-risk area since 31 October 2021)
• Slovenia (high-risk area since 26 September 2021)
• Somalia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• South Africa (high-risk area since 4 January 2022)
• South Sudan (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Spain incl. the Balearic and Canary Islands (high-risk area since 25 December 2021)
• Sudan (high-risk area since 31 January 2021)
• Suriname (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Sweden (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Switzerland (high-risk area since 5 December 2021)
• Syrian Arab Republic (high-risk area since 31 January 2021)
• Tajikistan (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Tanzania (high-risk area since 14 March 2021)
• Togo (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Trinidad and Tobago (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Tunisia (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Turkey (high-risk area since 17 August 2021)
• Turkmenistan (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Uganda (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• United Arab Emirates (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland incl. all British Overseas
Territories, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (high-risk area since 4 January 2022)
• United States of America (high-risk area since 25 December 2021)
• Uruguay (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Uzbekistan (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of (high-risk area since 19 September 2021)
• Vietnam (high-risk area since 15 August 2021)
• Yemen (high-risk area since 10 October 2021)
• Zambia (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Zimbabwe (high-risk area since 4 January 2022)
Entry Into Germany
People who have set foot into any of the countries listed within ten days before they enter Germany have to follow several rules, unless they are commuters, truck drivers who deliver goods to Germany or part of flight crews. Here they are:
1. Persons who come in from those countries, or who have been there, need to register on this website (safe link, explanations in fifteen languages, including English) beforehand. They will receive a confirmation which they need to bring along and show at the border.
2. They need to bring a fresh and negative Corona test result (antigen or PCR), a Corona vaccination certificate which shows they got at least two shots or proof for their status as persons who recently recovered from COVID-19.
3. They are required to upload the certificates they bring to the registration website. The confirmation they receive will contain an upload link.
4. Persons who enter Germany from ‘High Risk Areas’ generally have to go into quarantine for 10 days. This period can be shortened the moment the people affected upload test certificates with negative outcomes, vaccination certificates or documents that prove they recently recovered to the website mentioned. Doing so before arriving in Germany will get rid of the quarantine.
5. Persons who come in from ‘Virus Variant Areas’ have to go into quarantine for 14 days. In this case, there is no ‘get-out-of-quarantine-for-free card’. Except there are no ‘Virus Variant Areas’ right now. All but 31 countries in the world are ‘High Risk Areas’.

Russia sees record Covid-19 cases second day running [Times of India, 22 Jan 2022]

MOSCOW: The Russian government on Saturday reported a record number of new coronavirus cases after the Kremlin warned of a looming surge in cases driven by the Omicron variant.

An online portal dedicated to the coronavirus outbreak registered 57,212 new daily cases, surging past the previous record set Friday of 49,513.

Following a strict but brief national lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic, Russia has held back on curbs hoping instead to protect its struggling economy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last week that the country needed to ready for an Omicron-driven surge, calling for more testing and vaccinations.

In the capital Moscow -- the epicentre of the virus outbreak in Russia -- there was a record 16,094 new cases.

Several vaccines developed in Russia have been freely available for months but still only around half of the country is fully innoculated due to widespread vaccine scepticism.

Putin has previously said Russia's eminent Sputnik V vaccine could be "more effective" than Western-developed jabs.

Russian government figures show 325,433 deaths from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic -- the highest death toll in Europe.

Those figures are contradicted by state statistics agency Rosstat, which counts Covid deaths under a broader definition and says fatalities are around double the official figure.

Globally, Russia has the fourth-highest number of virus-related fatalities, according to an AFP tally, after the United States, Brazil and India.

COVID-19 fatigue sets in as US marks two years since first reported case [Fox17, 22 Jan 2022]

President Joe Biden stepped into the Oval Office with a 200-page plan to defeat COVID-19, a seven-point blueprint focused on restoring trust and safely reopening the country. It was a road map that was put to the test as an ever-evolving virus grips the United States.

On his first full day in office, the president spoke about hospitals at capacity, with short staff and low morale. One year later, the scene hasn't changed much.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the weekly average number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 is over 140,000. It's at an all-time high not seen since the Biden administration took over.

The key difference between the start of 2021 compared to 2022 is the tools at our disposal. President Biden devoted his early days in the White House to expanding access to vaccines, making a pledge in March to make shots widely available by May 1 and small gatherings returning by July 4.

Biden made it a goal to provide 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office, a target the administration was able to double by late April. It showed signs of optimism heading into the summer.

"The bottom line is the virus is on the run and America is coming back," President Biden said. "We're coming back together."

The CDC decided to strip its mask mandate for fully vaccinated individuals in most settings and situations. The guidance change was met with some smiling faces — and confusion.
Hospitalizations began dipping to a pandemic low in early June, with signs of normalcy returning.

This was joined by a pitch to sweeten the deal for Americans to roll up their sleeves. There was free pizza, free beer, lottery prizes, and other incentives totaling millions of dollars.

There were also signs of accomplishment on another major goal of getting kids back in classrooms.

However, this taste of normalcy was quickly complicated by the emergence of the Delta variant of the virus. The fast-spreading outbreak sent daily case counts soaring, hospitals back to a breaking point and mask mandates returning for indoor settings.

"We're in a tough stretch and it could last for a while," President Biden said. "This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated."

Vaccination levels began to tick back up as more Americans became eligible for the shot, including kids as young as 12. Near the holiday season, children as young as 5 were also cleared for the vaccine.

Then the more transmissible omicron variant came on the scene, dooming one of the Biden administration's early goals of reaching a semblance of "normalcy" by Christmas.

Lines wrapped around street corners for COVID tests and businesses were forced to shutter due to sick employees. It was a COVID conundrum carrying into the new year with the White House boosting its efforts with booster shots. The administration also created a website allowing Americans to order free at-home test kits.

"Testing, we should have done it quicker," President Biden said. "But we're doing remarkably well now."

COVID-19 fatigue set in across the United States, sending the president's approval rating plummeting.

According to a CBS News-YouGov poll, just under half of Americans approve the president's job in handling the pandemic, compared to 67% approval last March. The numbers are grim for an administration at risk of losing Democratic control of Congress as we near the midterm elections this November.