Page 29 - bon-dia-aruba-20211203

A29
world news Diabierna 3 December 2021

Germany locks unvaccinated out of public life; mandate looms

(AP) — Unvaccinated cinated against COVID-19,
people across Germany and she backed the even more There have been large pro-
will soon be excluded contentious idea of imposing tests against pandemic mea-
from nonessential stores, a general vaccine mandate. sures in the past in Germany,
restaurants and sports and She said parliament would and the proposed vaccine
cultural venues, Chan- debate the proposal with in- mandate is likely to be op-
cellor Angela Merkel an- put from the country’s na- posed by some, though opin-
nounced Thursday, and tional ethics committee. The ion polls show most Ger-
parliament will consider a mandate could take effect as mans are in favor.
general vaccine mandate early as February.
as part of efforts to curb Finance Minister Olaf
coronavirus infections. “In light of this situation, I Scholz, who is expected to be
really think it’s necessary to elected chancellor by a cen-
Merkel announced the mea- pass such a mandate,” Merkel ter-left coalition next week,
sures after a meeting with said, adding that she would has also backed a general vac-
federal and state leaders, have voted for it if she were cine mandate, but he favors
as the nation again topped still a lawmaker. letting lawmakers vote on the from COVID-19, bringing hospitals, the sale of fire-
70,000 newly confirmed cas- issue according to their per- the total since the start of the works traditionally set off
es in a 24-hour period. She Just months ago, Merkel sug- sonal conscience rather than pandemic to 102,178. during New Year’s in Ger-
said the steps were neces- gested that a vaccine mandate party lines. many will be banned. Each
sary to address concerns that would not be effective, but The discussion over new year, hospitals treat hundreds
hospitals could become over- she did not rule out the pos- “If we had a higher vaccina- measures has been compli- of people with serious inju-
loaded with patients suffering sibility. tion rate, we wouldn’t be dis- cated by Germany’s political ries because of mishandled
from COVID-19 infections, cussing this now,” he said. structure, which leaves the 16 fireworks.
which are much more likely About 68.7% of the popula- states responsible for many
to be serious in people who tion in Germany is fully vac- The rise in COVID-19 regulations, and the ongoing The new measures — which
have not been vaccinated. cinated, far below the gov- cases over the past several transition between the old are considered a nationwide
ernment’s minimum goal of weeks and the arrival of the and new governments at the minimum — will take effect
“The situation in our country 75%. new omicron variant have federal level. once the 16 states incorpo-
is serious,” Merkel told re- prompted warnings from sci- rate them into existing rules,
porters in Berlin, calling the Austria, which recently im- entists and doctors that the Scholz, whose Social Demo- likely in the coming days.
measures an “act of national posed even stricter measures country’s medical services crats narrowly beat Merkel’s
solidarity.” on unvaccinated people as could become overstretched center-right Union bloc in Merkel, who took part in
part of a 20-day lockdown, in the coming weeks unless September, defended the lat- what is likely to be her last
She said officials also agreed also plans to have a vaccine drastic action is taken. Some est steps as a political com- news conference as chancel-
on a nationwide requirement mandate by February. hospitals in the south and promise. lor, made clear her displea-
to wear masks, new limits on east of the country have al- sure about leaving office at a
private meetings and a goal of In Germany, unvaccinated ready transferred patients to “We are reacting to the cur- time when Germany has an
30 million vaccinations by the people will still be able to other parts of Germany be- rent situation with very far- infection rate of almost 440
end of the year — an effort meet in private settings, but cause of a shortage of inten- reaching, very drastic but new weekly cases per 100,000
that will be boosted by allow- only in very limited num- sive care beds. precise measures,” he told inhabitants.
ing dentists and pharmacists bers. A household with an reporters. “Decisive action is
to administer the shots. unvaccinated person over 14 Germany’s disease control being taken here and, what is “If we had an average inci-
can meet with only two peo- agency reported 73,209 new- particularly important to me, dence of 130, like Italy, or
Merkel said authorities plan ple from another household; ly confirmed cases Thursday. by mutual agreement.” 150, then I’d feel much better
to require staff in hospitals the limit does not apply when The Robert Koch Institute about it,” she said. “I want to
and nursing homes to be vac- everyone is vaccinated. also reported 388 new deaths To reduce the pressure on say this quite clearly.”

Island turns into open-air lab for tech-savvy volcanologists

(AP) — They come with watermelons that one of volcanic eruption happening happens in the underworld
eagle-eyed drones and nature’s most powerful just an hour’s drive from an where magma is formed Volcanic eruptions are a one
high-precision instru- forces hurl as incandes- international airport and the and melts any human-made or, at most, twice-in-a-gen-
ments. Aided by satellites, cent projectiles. safety of being able to work equipment. The deepest that eration event in the Canary
they analyze gas emissions under the escort of military humans have been able to Islands archipelago, which
and the flows of molten Scientists from around the brigades. They are applying drill into the planet’s crust lies 100 kilometers (62 miles)
rock. On the ground, they world are flocking to La cutting-edge technologies has been just over 12 kilo- northwest of Africa. Some of
collect everything from Palma, one of Spain’s Ca- to scrutinize a rare volcanic meters (7.6 miles), a feat that the Canary Islands are still
the tiniest particles to nary Islands in the Atlantic eruption from the land, the Soviet scientists achieved in growing due to magma ac-
“lava bombs” the size of Ocean, to take advantage of a sea, the air — and even space. 1989. cumulating underneath and,
as is happening in La Palma,
As in the two dozen other “There has been a lot of prog- by forming lava peninsulas
major live eruptions across ress in the last 30 or 40 years beyond the coastline.
the planet, from Hawaii to in the understanding of geo-
Indonesia, the ultimate goal logical and evolutionary pro- The last eruption, a decade
on La Palma is to use a unique cesses, but it’s still difficult to ago on the southern island
window of opportunity to know for sure what happens of El Hierro, happened just
better understand volcanic at 40 to 80 kilometers (25 off the coast, which made it
eruptions: how they form, to 50 miles) of depth,” said more difficult for volcanolo-
develop and, even more cru- Pedro Hernández, an expert gists trying to collect samples.
cially for the islanders, how with the Canary Islands’ vol- The previous land volcano
and when they end. canology institute, Involcan. erupted in La Palma in 1971,
the year when Valentin Troll,
But despite recent techno- “We are probably beginning an expert in rocks with Swe-
logical and scientific leaps, to know the stars better than den’s Uppsala University and
the researchers can only do what happens under our co-author of a geology study
a lot of estimating of what feet,” he said. of the archipelago, was born.