In the Federal Republic of Germany, 19.1 percent of all inhabitants have received their first vaccine against the dangerous Coronavirus, 6.5 percent also their second one. Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he expects to be able to visit beer gardens in summer.
Berlin, April 18th, 2021 (The Berlin Spectator) — Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz from Hamburg, who is also the Social-Democratic candidate for Chancellor, said in a newspaper interview he was certain he would be able to experience soccer matches live at the stadium and visit beer gardens this summer. He told the ‘Welt am Sonntag’ weekly, the Corona rules would likely be eased for the season. In spite of the ’emergency brake’ law his government was trying to get approved by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, the First Ministers from the sixteen federal states would still meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel on a regular basis, in order to discuss the anti-Corona measures, Scholz predicted.
Number of Infections and Vaccinations Increases
The number of new Coronavirus infections per day remains high. But a prediction by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) made a few weeks ago, according to which Germany would have Seven Day Incidence Numbers between 200 and 500 by now, turned out to be inaccurate. This early morning, the RKI reported 19,185 new Corona cases that were reported in the past 24 hours. The country’s Incidence rose again. It now stands at 162.3. All federal states except for Schleswig-Holstein have Incidences above 100, two of them, Thuringia and Saxony, exceed 200.
Along with the number of infections, that of vaccinations is increasing rapidly. On Friday alone, 559,967 vaccine doses were administered. The total number of doses administered since the vaccination campaign commenced is above 21 million. In Germany, 19.1 percent of the population has been vaccinated at least once, while 6.5 percent of all residents got the required two vaccine doses. After the vaccination effort’s slow start, this is a big success.
Corona Deniers Stage Illegal Protest
In spite of the serious situation in this pandemic, Corona deniers protested in Stuttgart yet again. Even though the authorities had banned their protest, hundreds of conspiracy theorists took to the streets, in many cases without masks or distance, to spread their weird claims. But the Stuttgart Police Department reacted, by stopping groups of protesters, identifying them and sending them away. Baden-Württemberg’s Interior Minister Thomas Strobl said it was disconcerting that hundreds of police officers were needed to make sure decency was upheld and distances were kept, in times in which people should care for each other.
All relevant Corona numbers for Germany, and daily Corona updates, can be found in our Corona chronology.
In Berlin, hardly anyone attended a rally in front of the Reichstag that was registered by Corona deniers. Five thousand people were supposed to take part, but only a few individuals did.
Commemoration Event in Berlin
Germany will commemorate the 79,914 citizens and other residents who have died of COVID-19 since the Corona pandemic commenced in early 2020. President Frank Walter Steinmeier will be holding a speech at the main event in the early afternoon. It will take place at Berlin’s ‘Konzerthaus’, located at Gendarmenmarkt. Flags in Berlin and some other federal states are at half mast today, in honor of the dead.
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