Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Germany and Coronavirus: 3 March 2020

There's a couple of updates:

1.  There's a AIDA-cruise ship docked in Norway, with mostly German passengers.  Two guests onboard have issues and have been tested (no results yet).   FOCUS says that the Norway authorities are holding the ship there at this point, and waiting on results.  Quarantine?  Only if the test is positive. 

2.  Coronavirus infected rate?  For Germany, 170 total. 

3.  The ECB is talking about floating some money into Europe.....if economic conditions go negative.

4.  Various exhibits and fairs are being cancelled throughout Germany.  We are six months out from Oktoberfest.  No one talks about a cancellation to the fest (yet). 

5.  There is a great story over at Focus....written by a German doctor who was visiting Austria for a ski-trip.  The guy had a sore throat and fever....so he felt worried.  So he started with the local health department....with no results over two days.  Then he called two local doctors....neither had access to the test kits. I strongly recommend a read of the story.....this guy probably spent twenty hours trying to get tested, and it's supposed to occur finally today (roughly four days after he started looking for a test situation).

6.  There was a soccer game with the Frankfurt team over in Salzburg this weekend.  At the conclusion of the game....some Frankfurt fan felt sick.  He went over to the doctors, and they tested him....yep, he's got the Coronavirus.  The question arises this week.....how many fans came in contact with the guy and go infected?  A dozen?  A hundred?  A thousand?  Unknown.

7.  An episode occurred over the weekend at Leipzig...where roughly a dozen-odd Japanese folks were denied entry to the soccer game, because of fears over infection. 

8.  Finally, I'll recommend a video-viewing....from last night (Monday) from ARD (public TV, Channel One).  If you go over to the site....they have a two-hour special of Hart Aber Fair, and it's a public forum with science and medical folks.  It is all in German, but it's a five-star explanation period over the virus, it's threat, and the suggestions to counter the threat.  I highly recommend the show.

The one point that they strongly hype from this two-hour discussion....is that a large majority of people who get infected....are simply having what you would consider the normal 'harsh' flu episode....fever, cough, chills, and seven to ten days later, it's over.  At this point, there's still no confirmed deaths in Germany.

2 comments:

Bufcat said...

In 1918, Saint Louis, MO saw the deadly Spanish Flu coming. Shutting down the city saved countless lives.

Schnitzel_Republic said...

There are a lot of communities in the south, midwest, and west coast...which didn't ever see the Spanish Flu taking off. It's never been fully explained in detail. There are towns in Colorado which just set up entry points and if you looked sick...you didn't get past the roadblock. But we didn't have to contend with airports or massive travel options.