Friday, January 29, 2021

Germany and Covid-19: 29 Jan 2021

 1.  You've probably heard a fair amount mentioned on the British vaccine company Astrazeneca.  They had the initial success of development, and the EU latched onto them by mid-summer 2020, with a contract.  What the EU didn't grasp at the time....there would be a testing phase and refinement.  The EU showed some desire to have a massive contract, and put all of their 'betting' just on this one vaccine.  It was probably a serious management decision that they'd regret.

So this past two weeks, Astrazeneca said that the factory in Belgium is having some quality issues, and the 'big' delivery is going to be a lot less.  This got the EU all disturbed.  

This morning, via N-TV, Astrazeneca has finally had enough of the blame, and they are going to publish the contract that the EU signed.  No one is saying much but it appears that it's going to lay out some of the poor wording by the EU managers, and you might get the impression that these people weren't experts at vaccines or buying medical-type products.  More to come, I expect.  

2. The German Army had some kind of waiver for barbers/hair-dressers....that they could operate in the barracks (while all other operations throughout the country were shut-down).  Well....the Defense Minister released a statement early today....the waiver would end immediately, and no hair-cutting would be allowed. 

What happens to the hair style of the Army folks?  This will be curious to see.  Personally, I don't think any hair operations will open up until after Easter.

3.  N-TV is reporting today that German airports will receive around one billion Euro through 2021.  If you go around the Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich regions....the airports have been exceptionally hard hit.  But there is a fair amount of criticism over the deal.

4.  Some German went and built a estimate-calculator....to ask you several questions and GUESS when the earliest chance will come for you to get the vaccination.  State-by-state information is fed into this and the current trend of appointments in the states.

5.  Over at Berglisch Gladbach, a town just east of Koln....some thief walked into a local clinic and stole 5,000 FFP-2 masks.  Value?  Well....on the street, you can ask around 4 Euro for them (the ultra cheap price is around 2.50 Euro if you can find them in local grocery operations).  This guy will clear around 15k to 20k Euro off the goods.

6.  Number of Germans with a positive test of Covid-19 since day one?  2,186,823.   Number of Germans dead since day one?  55,456.  

7.  Yeah, it is being reported at four different kindergartens in the Koln region....the Brit mutant virus is identified.  More deadly than the normal Covid-19 virus?  Pretty near the same 'threat'....although on the mist-level of discussion...if the normal Covid-19 virus were rated a '5' on this scale....the Brit mutant virus is probably rated a '7'.  That's what drove the FFP-2 mask mandate.  If the virus is showing up at differing kindergartens?  Then it's pretty wide-spread in the Koln region (one would assume).  

8.  The Portuguese border with Spain completely shut-down?  Apparently occurred yesterday.

9.  Is there a fake business landscape going on.....with the government persuading companies to avoid bankruptcy paperwork until after the September national election?  

Focus picked up the discussion and talked about this perception.  For at least a month, I've read various business reports which suggest differing techniques are being used, and enough money is spread around to keep a happy-face on company existence.  

If true?  Well...you won't really know about it until after the election (September).  My humble belief is that early November will be this moment of reckoning, and several dozen well known companies (medium-sized companies) will finally lay down the paperwork.  Massive frustration will sweep Germany and whoever 'won' the election....will be stuck with a five-star mess from December 2021 through to the fall of 2022.  

All of this being hidden from the public?  I wouldn't use the word 'hidden'.  The government is simply feeding enough cash through the system....that keeps companies at the 'zombie-level' and childish hopes are geared toward something occurring out of this tactic.  Unemployment by spring of 2022?  Maybe they can hide it via differing training programs but I would imagine the true unemployment level in spring of 2022 to be near 12 percent.  All of this leading back to Covid-19 and the shut-down process.  

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