COVID-19 Daily - November 14: Austria wants to impose lockdown on unvaccinated; The Czech Republic wants to test children in schools and high schools; Denmark wants to impose "Corona Pass" at work!

The coronavirus pandemic is on its gloomy course and continues to make new victims. Most countries in the world continue to face tens of thousands of new cases of COVID-19, but advanced treatments and vaccines have managed to reduce the pressure on medical systems and further reduce mortality. But it is not enough, and countries continue to impose restrictive measures to further limit the spread of the new coronavirus.

• Austria intends to impose a lockdown on unvaccinated people, a desperate move proposed by the Austrian government in the hope that it will be able to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Austria has the lowest vaccination rate of all Western European countries except Liechtenstein. About 65% of Austria's population is completely vaccinated. Many Austrians are skeptical about vaccines, a view encouraged by the far-right Freedom Party, the third largest in parliament. 

• Government Czech will ask children to take COVID-19 tests in an effort to reduce a recent increase in cases. All primary schools and high schools across the country will be ordered to test the country's 1,4 million students in two waves, on November 22 and 29, said the Minister of Education, Robert Plaga.

People have the moral duty to the rest of society to protect others

• People who are not yet vaccinated as the new wave of the coronavirus pandemic sets in in Germany need to understand that they have the moral duty to the rest of society to protect others, a declared the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "We must make it clear that I have the right to be vaccinated"And this is a great asset, a huge achievement of science and technology," Merkel said in a video link. "But I also have a certain obligation to contribute to the protection of society."

• Denmark has proposed a law that would allow employers to impose employee a digital “crown pass” in the most recent measure to reduce the growth of infections. This week, the Danish government adopted the obligation to present digital certificates to visit indoor bars, restaurants and other public places. Usually displayed by a telephone application, the permit checks whether the holder is vaccinated, tested negative or has recently recovered from the infection. Under the proposed new legislation, employers may decide to require workers to submit permits, although employers will not be required to do so.

• The UK Health Security Agency has tried to find out how many people have been infected twice with COVID-19. The figure is hard to know because it depends on people who had tests and sequencing of evidence, but the agency says there were 361 definite cases of people infected twice, 3.480 probable cases and 57.195 possible cases by October. The UKHSA says the number may increase as more asymptomatic tests take place, which would detect cases where people have COVID-19 a second time, but have had no symptoms.