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Germany warns of new COVID wave this autumn

A medical student prepares a syringe with vaccination against the coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease inside Klunkerkranich Restaurant and night club during an ongoing vaccination campaign of the Clubkommission in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach renewed an appeal for vaccine holdouts to reconsider. He said people who remain unvaccinated in Germany can't expect contact restrictions for them to be lifted
Germany's parliament is preparing for a new wave of COVID infections. (AP)

Germany has warned of a new COVID wave this autumn and approved measures to control the expected increase in infections.

The country's health minister, Karl Lauterbach, ruled out further lockdowns or school closures following a cabinet meeting during which the government approved stricter mask rules on trains and planes from October.

From 1 October to 7 April, N95-type face masks will be required during all long-distance travel by trains, buses and planes.

There will also be a nationwide obligation to wear masks and take a COVID test before entering hospitals, nursing homes and anywhere with vulnerable people.

Justice minister Marco Buschmann said there would be no more schools closing, no matter how severe cases get during the winter.

Read more: WHO - COVID deaths down by 15%, cases fall nearly everywhere

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach addresses the media during a press conference in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022 on the current Corona situation in Germany. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
German health minister Karl Lauterbach ruled out further school lockdowns. (AP)

He said: "Students were certainly the group that suffered the most in the pandemic ... especially in terms of exercising their right to education, especially in terms of school closures.

"And that’s why I’m also glad that we were able to quickly agree that the instrument of school closures is therefore completely disproportionate.”

On 19 July, the World Health Organization warned of rapidly escalating cases of the virus, especially in Europe where cases tripled in six weeks, and accounted for nearly half of all global cases.

It said the situation will get worse in the autumn and winter and urged countries to act before it was too late.

A statement from the WHO said: "It’s now abundantly clear we’re in a similar situation to last summer – only this time the ongoing COVID-19 wave is being propelled by sub-lineages of the omicron variant, notably BA.2 and BA.5, with each dominant sub-lineage of omicron showing clear transmission advantages over the previously circulating viruses.

Read more: Security guard stole empty COVID vaccine bottles to sell on eBay

"With rising cases, we’re also seeing a rise in hospitalisations, which are only set to increase further in the autumn and winter months as schools reopen, people return from holidays and social mixing moves indoors with the onset of colder weather.

"This forecast presents a huge challenge to the health workforce in country after country, already under enormous pressure from dealing with unrelenting crises since 2020."

In the UK, COVID-19 infections are currently at their lowest levels in over two months.

The number of patients in hospitals with COVID has also been dropping, although health experts have warned of infections rising as colder temperatures set in.

File photo dated 11/02/22 of people walking along Peascod Street in Windsor, Berkshire. Shopper footfall across the UK continued its gradual improvement in March as many consumers enjoyed their first full month free of Covid restrictions. Issue date: Friday April 8, 2022.
In the UK, COVID-19 infections are currently at their lowest levels in over two month, with fresh hopes the virus is receding. (PA)

A new booster jab will be offered to everyone in the UK aged 50 and over from next month, as well as those with underlying health conditions, to increase protection ahead of future waves.

A total of 1.7 million people in private households are estimated to have had COVID in the week to 8 August, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is a drop of 34% from the previous estimate of 2.6 million for the week ending 26 July.

Sarah Crofts, head of analytical outputs for the ONS Covid-19 infection survey, said: “Infections have continued to fall across much of the UK to levels last seen in mid-June.

“Our latest data show these decreases are among nearly all ages in England, with the lowest levels seen among children.

“We will continue to monitor the data closely to understand the impact of the summer holidays.”