COVID: Back to Zero

by - Sunday, November 29, 2020

It's only been seven months since the pandemic has been raging, and for a moment it looked like Europe had it whipped. We know the rest of the story. The colder months are now upon us, the citizens of Frankfurt are all out in full force to taste the last of the mild autumn weather until the long, dark, and gray period is rung in. 

It wasn't too long ago when we were in Prague, then in Vienna, two places that now resemble ghost towns following lockdown orders. Germany has been setting new records, and Berlin's half-hearted attempts at containing Covid are destined to backfire. The playgrounds here in Frankfurt, for example, are still packed. The schools are still open and show no sign of closing. As of now, results suggest that there is no connection between open schools and rising Covid numbers.

Just this Monday morning, after I accompanied Liebi to a doctor's appointment in downtown Frankfurt, I took a walk toward the Römer Platz, the very heart of Frankfurt and the top tourist site of the city. This is where the Rathaus is, the town hall. Only two years ago the Frankfurt football team hoisted the German cup in the air to a roaring crowd after their historic defeat of Bayern Munich in the cup final. This is the prime place for vendors during the annual Christmas market, which will not take place this year. I take a good look around the Römer, and there is nobody, not a soul, not a billionaire, bureaucrat, or bum. Incredible. I am in the heart of continental Europe's alpha city, it is Monday morning at 9 a.m., and the place is vacant. Life during a pandemic, part two, or the second wave. Only this isn't a story or a movie (impossible, since the theaters are closed as well), but something very, very real.

Yet somehow, Germany, with over 80 million people packed into an area the size of Montana, is doing better than most. There are plenty of anti-lockdown protests in Berlin, but you also have to wonder how many are actually against the measures out in place and how many are out there for self-preservation, meaning their business had to shut down on orders of the Bundestag.

Meanwhile, no fewer than three pharma companies in Germany have reported having a vaccination that should be ready by the middle of December, when Germany, starting with Berlin, is planning a countrywide vaccine drive. First comes the hard part, though, and that's convincing regulators (see my posts about German bureaucracy) to push through the vaccination. The first to receive the vaccination will be health workers, then members of any risk group, including the elderly and people with pre-existing health conditions. The goal here, besides curbing the spread of Covid, is to have Germany open and ready for Christmas. 

Germany just passed one million cases, which may seem like a trifle compared to others. To Germans, though, that's still one million too many and reason enough to prevent the country from reaching two million. No German logic needed here.

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