About once a week, I see some comical (but serious) discussion break out among journalists, virus experts, and politicians in Germany over some Covid-19 matter.
So after this weeks Chancellor meeting with the sixteen state Premier-Presidents....this one topic lay on the table.....Christmas with relatives 'visiting'.
They didn't say anything against the matter, although this max of ten people in the house is one of the rules that they all agreed upon.
But this one issue is being dragged out. If you have relatives (say your brother/his wife) who live in Hamburg, and want to spend it with you in Heidelberg....but you don't have any room for them to stay in your house....the normal custom is to check into a hotel locally. Hotels right now? Shut down.
The topic of discussion (at least here in Hessen)...starting around mid-December, allow the hotels to open and guests to flow in.
The Chancellor's team? Absolutely against the idea.
People being told NOT to tourist-travel, as part of this open-hotel idea? The authorities are pretty determined that this angle to hotels opening can't be used. It's strictly visiting relatives.
Abuse coming? No doubt. Some guy will show up in Hamburg with his girlfriend, and be asked if he is visiting relatives. 'Absolutely' will be the answer, then seven days later....someone in the hotel reports that the guy and the girlfriend seem to be downtown a lot, on shopping tours. Police then asking him to name the relatives in the area....will then be his downfall.
Problems with this whole idea? Restaurants, bars and pubs are shut-down. Other than take-out, that's about the only way you can eat. So either you eat with the relatives during that week-long stay, or you do fast food/pizza for the period.
Hotels? They aren't saying much, and frankly....if you had 180-room hotel, and only 18 rooms taken up during this holiday period....it doesn't really make a lot of sense to open.
All sixteen states heading toward one single answer? No, and that's another obvious problem.
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