Saturday, November 27, 2021

Germany and Covid: 27 Nov 2021

 1. Is it too late to halt the introduction of the new 'deadly' variant from South Africa?

Well....the Netherlands now reports this AM that a dozen-odd people flew in from SA, and have the new variant.  It is too late.  But the flight halt will still take place, and probably go on for at least two months.

2.  N-TV reported today that the German government....has NO idea on the vaccination rate among German doctors and nurses.  ZERO.

Blame being dumped on the CDU-SPD coalition government under Merkel?  Yeah, to some degree.  But frankly....no one ever suggested to get personal job information while getting jabbed.  They didn't ask you if you were married, your favorite beer, or preferred soccer teams.  

So would they be shocked if 40-percent of nurses haven't been jabbed?  Yeah, I'd go and suggest that.  Even if were closer to 12-percent....they might be surprised.

3.  Arguments over a shortage of vaccine?  N-TV talked about this issue in the AM.  Lower Saxony and Brandenburg (the states) are talking about this.  Massive issue?  No....it's a delay of about a week on 'promised' vaccine.  But it puts people in the two states a week behind.

4.  Couple of months ago....the reality show that Germans hype up....'Jungle Camp'.....was destined to move from Australia to South Africa.  The RTL show is one of the top ten shows of the year.  Well....lot of chatter over the past two weeks, and it appears questionable if the show will run at all.  Was supposed to start up in January.  

5.  There's a rumor around Lufthansa this morning here in Germany....that non-vax people won't be able to fly (shortly).  Just a rumor circulating around social media.  No idea if this is true or not.  

6.  7-day incidence rate (per 100,000 residents) at 444.  One virus expert suggests the German rate will double over the next couple of weeks.  

7.  Some legal things noted since the epidemic mandate ended on 25 October....the national power to do a shutdown....also ended.  German states on their own....have the power still, so you probably will see a state-by-state decision made.  Before Christmas, I expect all of the German states to have a lockdown in place, and some type of curfew (figure 8 PM to 9 PM).  

8.  France mandated masks for public situations (parking lots, open-air markets, parks, etc).

9.  Most of the highly urbanized Christmas markets in Germany are still functioning, with stringent rules (forget about it if you are non-vax).  If you view trends and virus-expert commentary....I'd tend to suggest that they will all shut down by mid-December.  The smaller town operations?  Mostly all shutdown at this point. 

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