1. Infected: 4,828. Dead: 12. The Saarland is at the bottom of the 16 German states with infection: 32. RKI numbers.
2. Most all of the islands on the north part of the country are now shut down.....no tourists. You only get over if you own property there.
3. Reportedly, the German travel 'giant' TUI is going to temporarily shut down operations.....to accept no new orders for package tours or trips.
4. A temporary rule has been activated....if you are now unemployed or need to apply for job compensation or welfare.....you can do the whole package over the phone.
5. 370 Italians were dead over the weekend from the virus.
6. Explaining the Curevac 'deal'. So this international company exists....having divisions in both Germany and the US. No, it's not a publicly stock-traded company....it's a private concern, and profit is the key to the investor group involved. They do a lot of breaking technology research into vaccines. Their 'old' CEO (an American) showed up and got front-door access in the US for virus chatter. He even got a invitation to be at a White House insider-meeting.
It would appear, based on commentary by the business news folks (using several sites) that he was hoping to get some type of 'grant' for the Coronavirus research, and these billions that had been voted upon for different things....might find a path for x-million (no one ever suggests how much of a grant might be on the table).
Trump is the one who'd turn the 'deal' if a grant was agreed upon. Note, this isn't a loan....it's a discussion over a vaccine product, the urgent nature of it, and Trump's view that if they invest the money into this....the US wants 'first dibs' on the vaccine.
NO one can say or suggest that the CEO agreed to this. I think he was a bit shocked with Trump suggested that the 'deal' would involve the US getting something exclusive. All of this ends up in the news rather quickly.
After this event, the CEO shows back up in Germany, and the board has a meeting. Hours later, the CEO is given a package deal to leave, and the previous CEO (the German who developed the company around a decade ago) is brought in as the new CEO.
Now? The Germans are all hyped up....how can this knowledge and possible production....become a US-exclusive product? So the company has to clear the air and appear in front of some folks.....to basically explain they were hopeful of free 'grant' money coming out of this whole thing. Getting German headlines for the next three or four days? No doubt.
Is it a German company? Yes, but it's also got a research group in the US, and is more of a international company, than a German company. Does the German government own any part of it? There is no evidence of that. It's just a company that researches things and find a profit path in the end.
Maybe five years ago with the old Obama Presidency.....free money and no exclusive deal would have been normal. I suspect Trump runs things with the intention that you don't get anything free with a 'grant'. During the Bush and Obama eras....there are literally hundreds of companies or organizations who got free deal grants. It was literally considered 'normal operations'.
Over? To some degree....there is going to be some German political meeting to clear the air with the company. The company will resolve thing, fix the PR-mess, and go back to their central position....use what assets they have and continue on.
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