Concern over the new Covid-19 strain and record cases nationwide
Berlin: On Friday, 26 November 2021, Germany reported a new record of more than 76,000 COVID-19 cases in a day as its air force got ready for the first time in the pandemic to fly severely ill patients to different parts of the country to reduce the struggle of the hospitals.
On Thursday, Germany had crossed the 100,000 COVID-19-related deaths, with warnings from hospitals mainly in the south and the east of the country that their intensive care units are reaching capacity.
Later on Friday, The sources told Reuters, The German air force will transport severely ill COVID-19 patients from the southern town of Memmingen to Muenster near Osnabrueck in the north to relieve clinics in the south.
It is the first time that the air force has to use its so-called "flying intensive care units", planes fitted with up to six ICU beds, to transfer COVID-19 patients within Germany.
Berlin will also declare South Africa a virus variant area on Friday after the detection of a new COVID-19 variant there, a health ministry source said.
According to the source, The decision, which will come into effect from Friday night, will mean airlines will be allowed to fly only Germans to Germany from South Africa. Returning Germans, even those who are vaccinated, will then have to spend 14 days in quarantine.
Health Minister Jens Spahn said, "This newly discovered variant worries us. That is why we are acting proactively and early here." "The last thing we need now is a new variant being introduced that causes even more problems."
South African scientists said the variant - called B.1.1.529 - has a "very unusual constellation" of mutations, which are concerning because they could help it evade the body's immune response and make it more transmissible.
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