Today's Berlin corona news in 60 seconds
+++ 1 year corona in DE +++ Flight ban? +++ Help from Sanofi +++ The stats +++
Berlin-Every weekday at 11am come to the Berliner Zeitung English Edition for the corona/Covid-19 news at a glance.
🚥 The latest corona stats for Berlin (tallied Tuesday, 26 January)
New cases in one day: 433 (369 Monday)
Total number of corona deaths: 2,101 (+34 over Monday)
🟢 R number: 0.91 (1.04 Monday)
🔴 New infections per week: 106.8/100,000 inhabitants (108.4 Monday)
🔴 Share of Berlin ICUs occupied by Covid-19 patients: 30.5 per cent (no change)
Source: Berlin's coronavirus status page
The lowdown...
Opposition to Merkel: Include parliament in corona decision-making
Yesterday was corona's "first birthday in Germany". A year ago the country's first Covid-19 patient was diagnosed in Bavaria. More than 50,000 people have since died of Covid-19 and Angela Merkel's actions are coming increasingly under fire from the FDP and Greens, in particular for the chancellor's failure to include Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in decision-making on lockdown measures.
"I can understand if the federal government attaches a lot of importance to good cooperation in the executive branch in this difficult crisis. But fundamental questions must be debated and decided in parliament," said Green parliamentary leader Anton Hofreiter.
Air travel shutdown?
Speaking to Bild, interior minister Horst Seehofer said the government is considering a near-total flight shutdown as a way to combat the B.1.1.7 mutation first discovered in the UK.
"The danger posed by the numerous virus mutations requires us to also examine drastic measures and discuss them in the federal government," he told the tabloid. Apparently, inspiration for the idea comes from Israel, which has stopped virtually all flights. Take a look at Israel's vaccine strategy, too, while you're at it, Horst.
Sanofi to help out with Biontech vaccine?
After all the European vaccine screw-ups, maybe some good news: French pharma corp Sanofi says it will support production of Biontech's corona vaccine at its Frankfurt plant. Sanofi says it will be involved in a later stage of production, and claims it can deliver 125m doses to the EU this year.
In case you missed it...
Career switch: A year ago DJ Maringo was playing techno to clubbers around the world. Now, like most Berlin nightlife professionals, he's jobless. But instead of falling into to depression, he's learning to become a train driver.
That's all for now, folks. Stay safe!
Yours,
The Berliner Zeitung English team