Letter from… Berlin

By Leo Keutner, Kohl (Part of SEC Newgate)

Somehow the Germans had forgotten Covid-19 during the last few weeks: Whoever strolled across Alexanderplatz or sat down at the Spree, saw Berliners in a good mood drinking their beer and sitting (too) close together. They are no longer taking the obligation to wear face masks seriously. After all, Germany has come through the crisis relatively well. So, in a way the last few weeks were not only school vacations, but also corona vacations - but those are over now. 

Schools have reopened, classes have begun, and some schools have already closed again, after they found one teacher infected in Treptow and two students in Charlottenburg. In addition, more and more Berliners are returning home from their vacations, infected, having visited risky areas. It is now disputed who must carry the costs of corona testing. Unfortunately, in Berlin the test capacities are exhausted, according to Health Senator Dilek Kalayci 93% of the local laboratories are occupied. 

There is even more new bad news in terms of our economy: The press reports that the economy has collapsed by ten percent and that numbers of infections are rising at a pace similar to April and May, when the Covid-19 crisis reached its peak in Germany. 

An anti-Corona demo took place in early August - right in the centre of Berlin. More than 20,000 right-wing extremists, conspiracy theorists, vaccination opponents demonstrated against the political measures to combat the pandemic. 

So, at the moment the atmosphere in the city is a bit tense, also because it is unclear what is in store for us in autumn: First reports of a second lockdown are discussed. Seems like the carelessness during the last few weeks was a bit out of place.