German court rejects compensation for pandemic-hit firms

Germany's Federal Court of Justice on Thursday rejected the lawsuit of a hotel owner against the state of Brandenburg whose business was hit by the pandemic.

The owner was forced to shut his business in spring 2020 due to coronavirus restrictions and demanded that his local state, Brandenburg, paid him €27,000 ($29,987) as emergency aid. He also asked for compensation to cover losses suffered during the lockdowns. 

The ruling in Karlsruhe set a wider precedence that the German government is not responsible to pay out compensation in other similar cases.

Meanwhile, Germany has recorded another grim milestone with the seven-day incidence rate hitting a fresh high of 1651.4, a day after the figure crossed 1600 for the first time in the pandemic, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases (RKI).

The figure reflects the average number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over the past week. The new high comes amid discussion about scaling back virus-linked restrictions across the country.

The country recorded 294,931 new COVID infections on Thursday, taking Germany's pandemic caseload to 17,990,141, according to RKI data. It recorded 278 fatalities in the last 24 hours, up from 259 a week ago, taking the total death toll to 126,420. 

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

Europe

Ireland’s Prime Minister Michael Martin has tested positive for the virus during a visit to the United States, the country's ambassador to the US said on Wednesday. The positive result forced Martin to leave a gala attended by US President Joe Biden.

Martin, whose position is known as the Taoiseach in Ireland, was set to meet Biden at the White House on Thursday, on St Patrick's Day. 

Asia

South Korea has hit another daily record in COVID-19 infections and fatalities as the country struggles to contain an omicron-fueled wave. With Thursday's new cases at 621,266, Wednesday’s record of just over 400,000 cases has been shattered.

South Korea reported 429 deaths in the latest 24 hours, nearly 140 more than the previous one-day record set on Tuesday. 

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam on Thursday said she was looking to ease some of the city’s COVID restrictions amid waning public tolerance. However, she did not provide a roadmap out of the city’s current COVID crisis.

Lam said "the time has come" to review the restrictions: "Not because the number of cases has come down... but I have a very strong feeling that people's tolerance is fading."

Cambodia has done away with COVID testing requirements for overseas visitors as the country looks to spur economic growth with more investment and tourism.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said the new rules would start from Thursday. He said, "Now it's the stage to open the economy by learning how to live with COVID." 

While mandatory testing has been removed, foreign visitors will still need to be fully vaccinated. 

Americas

The US has given more than 500 million COVID vaccines to other countries, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday: "The United States has now shared over 500 million safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine doses, free of cost, to more than 110 countries and economies around the world — for the sole purpose of saving lives."

As several countries struggle to contain the virus, Washington said it aims to more than double that amount to 1.1 billion doses.

fh, see/wd (Reuters, AP, AFP)