Local 'Hotspot' Ban Rules?

 The term 'hotspot' now refers to a Covid situation, where you (local community) have a Covid infection rate of 350 or more, for 3 consecutive days.  So we are heading to that point (probably Friday, the new ban rules will kick in).

Affect?  First, when walking in any pedestrian zone.....masks are required.  

Second, there's a ban on alcohol being sold/consumed in 'high audience areas'.  In the shopping district or the center of town is the referred situation.  Could you walk out of that area and buy booze at some grocery, and then put the bottle in some paper-bag?  Yeah.  I read through the list....about a dozen places in town where the cops will be walking and ensuring things are 'dry'.  Yes, you can sell Cokes and Fanta instead, and drink as much as you want.  

Third, house of prostitution must close during this period.  

Stores still operating?  Yes, although you have to show 2G in your situation (either vaxed-up or recovered).  

How This Threat of Omicron Is Viewed in Germany

 If you go and look at the landscape....the great fear is that mass transit, hospitals, fire-protection, police, and normal services....will come to a 'halt' if this goes MASSIVE.

Examples?  You might go to a ATM machine and think you can get 300 Euro out of it....only to discover that the two-man team to fill the machines in that district....are out for two weeks.

You might go to the local grocery.....to find that Johan (the guy who brings two truck-loads of groceries to the store weekly).....is out for two weeks, and the shelves are getting pretty bare by the 14th day.

You might have a minor fire in the basement....only to discover that the firecrew who comes out....requires an extra 20 minutes and comes from the next town over....because your six-man crew in your town....are sick.

You might get robbed one night and be told by the police that someone will come out in 16 hours, because of low manning (illness related).

You might have a water leak in the basement, only to find the normal plumber and his entire crew are out for ten days.  

This entire scenario....top to bottom.....has been openly discussed in Berlin and the sixteen state capitals.  They all fear where this could go.

Imagine trying to run the Frankfurt subway system, with half the manpower simply not there.  Or try to imagine running a prison with only 40-percent of the normal manpower.  Or try to imagine getting the nightly news when only half the personnel are capable of showing up.  

By the end of February, I anticipate this fear will simple move on.  

Coming Up on Friday

 This Friday in Germany, there's another meeting of the federal folks and the sixteen state leadership....on Covid.  More ban rules?  Well....there's open discussion on this.

Shorter quarantine period on the table?  Yes.

Schools staying open?  That appears to be the priority of the state authorities.

A 'bonus' program for nurses?  This is hinted and some amount of one-billion Euro is discussed.  If you counted every single one (from nursing homes, to hospitals/clinics)....it's believed it totals near 1.1-million.  Will all of them get the bonus?  Unknown. If they gave out the whole amount to the 1.1-million....it'd basically add up to 900-odd Euro for single person.

These anti-government 'walks' being discussed?  Probably, and the state authorities are probably getting disturbed over escalation of 'walks' and violence.  I doubt if the federal folks can deliver much to control this....other than ordering no demonstrations to be allowed for a month-long period.  

Trust Story

 The Forsa folks (who do surveys) asked the question on 'trust' with the new SPD-Green FDP coalition government and Chancellor Scholz.  Focus talked about this situation. 

So....57-percent of Germans have 'great confidence' in the new government.  Compared to a year ago, with the Merkel camp?  That was rated at near 75-percent. 

A problem?  Well...it's early in the administration under Scholz, and I'd give them a year to get their programs going.  It does suggest that public sentiment is going to require some work.  

Steinmeier

 I noticed this morning via Focus....the coalition government (SPD-Greens-FDP) has sat down and agreed....vote back up for another five-year term....SPD's Steinmeier as President of Germany.

There had been a lot of discussion back in the summer of 2021....with various ideas that if the CDU won....Steinmeier would go, and some Green Party folks wanted one of their own possibly for the job.  

Problems with Steinmeier?  No.....he's been a fairly neutral figure and not gotten deeply into political positions.  So he'll continue until 2027, unless his health declines.  

Mercedes EQXX?

 I noticed in car news.....a lot of chatter over the test model of the EQXX from Mercedes this morning.  The hype?  Well....it goes 1,000 km (621 miles) on one single charge-up.

Unique features?  Well....the tires are different.

HP?  They say 201 HP.

What Mercedes generally says is that they will take technology put into the EQXX, and work to develop other models slated for release in 2024.

If they could deliver 1,000 km on the single charge?  Basically....if you left at 8 AM....you could make a full drive over one single day to your destination, and only have to recharge that evening.  This crappy situation currently where you break your trip in half....planning a 3-hour pause to recharge halfway to your destination...would be eliminated.  

Cost factor?  No one says anything much, and that ought to worry the average consumer.  No one is going to pay 100,000 Euro for such a car.  Just looking at the tire description....I doubt if the four wheels can be purchased for less than 800 Euro each.  

Natural Gas Crisis To Get Worse?

Well....yeah..

 Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, has worked up a natural gas deal with China's Xi Jinping.

There is to be a new pipeline built....to double gas exports to China.

The chatter?  They figure this will amount to around fifty billion cubic meters more natural gas every year.

All of this to put Germany into a more difficult natural gas position, and escalate prices?  No doubt.

The 'Walks'

 Ever since mid-November.....there's been fairly harsh Covid ban rules in place, and it's drawn the ire of the public to some degree.  It's hard not to find a German who has at least grumbled about the effect on their lives, or the amount of stress that the ban rules bring.  

I would estimate that more than three-quarters of the general public shake their head over ban rules and enforcement activity.  They may not be angry, but their patience is less than it was twelve months ago. 

N-TV had a brief discussion over this in the AM.  They briefly talked over demonstrations which have recently started up.  

The trend?  Germans gather up on a Monday night, and 'walk' through highly urbanized areas of Germany. I will admit.....doing this in the mid-winter period is a challenge.

From the police estimate of last night?  Numbers reported around the nation are about 35k....more or less.

Non-violent?  Well....I would suggest that 99-percent of this goes that way.  However, like last night....over in Lichtenstein (about a 30 min drive south of Stuttgart)....things got out of hand, where the ambulance crews were trying to help some folks, and police got in the middle of things, and the 'walk' escalated into a riot.

Are these 'walks' registered as a official demonstration?  Some are....the rest are not registered and not approved by the city officials.  Those are the ones which draw police attention.  

Getting more intense and reactionary?  There's a fair amount of pressure by the city officials on the police to 'control' events or prevent them.  The cops?  I suspect if you asked them....this is pretty crazy.  In some locations, you could be talking about freezing temperatures or just above freezing with rain falling.  It's crappy job requirements to be out on the street for three hours to at least pretend you are curtailing the crowd.

What would happen if the police just did regular duty and not messed with the crowds?  It might be worth asking.

As for this building up?  I'd say over the past three weeks....it has probably doubled in size around the nation.  

This changing in about eight weeks?  Well....as warmer weather arrives in March....the ban rules will get trimmed back, and the intensity of the 'walks' will evolve to a lesser degree.  The question is....just how bad will things be in four to six week....while we wait?