COVID digest: German minister tests positive in US

Berlin, Apr 21: German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Twitter late on Wednesday in the US that he had tested positive for COVID after his appointments with the International Monetary Fund and the G20 in Washington.

"After two years without a COVID-19 infection, after a negative result yesterday in a test center and another negative rapid test earlier today: positive," Lindner wrote. "Thanks to three vaccinations only mild and already fading cold symptoms."

Lindner was taking part in various appointments in the US capital, focused on the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund as well as a G20 session he participated in and a smaller G7 finance ministers' meeting he chaired, as Germany is the current G7 presidency holder.

According to Finance Ministry officials, he had been undergoing regular tests, all of them negative, until recording one positive rapid test late on Wednesday.

The 43-year-old had further appointments scheduled for Thursday in the US, and then a late evening return flight. The impact on his travel schedule was not immediately clear.

Here are the latest major developments on coronavirus from around the world:

Europe

Germany reported 186,325 new COVID infections on Thursday, taking the total number of cases to 23,844,536, according to the latest figures from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases. The rolling seven-day average of cases per population of 100,000 was recorded at 720.

Asia

Hong Kong has reopened gyms, beauty parlors, theme parks, and cinemas for the first time in over four months as COVID infections fell below 1,000 for the past six days, down from a peak of more than 70,000 on March 3.

The city also extended restaurant dining until 10 p.m. and lifted restrictions on group gatherings of up to four people. Several schools also resumed in-person classes after months of online learning.

Americas

The US Justice Department has appealed a federal judge's ruling that ended a mask mandate on public transportation and airplanes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the measure was still required.

Earlier this week, the district judge had ruled that the 14-month-old mandate, which applied to planes, trains and other public transportation, was unlawful.

Source: DW