Germany: Corona Infection Numbers Skyrocket, but Nobody Does Anything to Stop them

The acting German government and the ‘traffic light coalition’ which intends to take over soon are discussing the Corona situation internally. But hardly anything has been done to curb the virus, in spite of the record infection numbers that are being registered every day.

Berlin, November 15th, 2021. Update: 10:23 a.m. CET (The Berlin Spectator) — Germany’s Coronavirus infection numbers started exploding about a month ago. Since this strong Corona wave started hitting the country, nothing much has happened. Some federal states within Germany took half-hearted measures. In Berlin, the new ‘2G’ rule kicks in today. Only vaccinated and cured persons may enter restaurants, cultural venues and other places.

Strict Measure Dropped

But the federal government run by the acting Chancellor Angela Merkel has not done much. There should have been a Corona conference with her and the First Ministers from the capitals of the states weeks ago. On ZDF television, Chancellery Minister Helge Braun stated no date had been found, which sounds like a cheap excuse. This Thursday, it is finally supposed to happen.

In the meantime, the three-party coalition which is supposed to take over the government the second week of December is discussing Corona behind the scenes. According to German-language media, it decided to drop strict measures at first. For instance, contact restrictions were not supposed to be applied anymore. Now that the infection numbers are reaching more alarming levels on a daily basis, the SPD, the Greens and the FDP do not want to exclude this harsh measure after all.

Out of Control

While Corona is filling up Germany’s ICUs and killing more and more people, lockdowns or travel bans are not supposed to be put in place anymore. The same applies to more restrictions for retail businesses or hotels. The ‘traffic light coalition’ does not want to restrict sports activities either.

Virologists and other experts, on the other hand, expect harsh measures right now because the Coronavirus is out of control yet again. For the first time ever, the Seven Day Incidence in Germany surpassed the 300 mark today. A month ago, it was at 68.7 and a week ago at 201.1. There are 23,607 new Corona infections. Last Sunday, there were 15,513, and even this number was shocking.

Four-Digit Incidences

Saxony’s Incidence just reached 754.3, Thuringia and Bavaria are above 500 for the first time in this major crisis. Baden-Württemberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Berlin have Incidences between 300 and 400. Berlin’s Neukölln district is one of the capital’s Corona hotspots yet again, with an Incidence of 365.9, the highest level ever. Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg overtook its neighbor though. Here, the Incidence is 439.9 (no typo). But, compared to seven counties in Germany’s south-eastern part, which stand above 1,000, these Incidences almost seem harmless. This is what the situation in Germany has come to.

All relevant Corona numbers for Germany, and daily Corona updates, can be found in our Corona chronology.

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