Today's Berlin corona news in 60 seconds
+++ Merkel on TV +++ New Berlin rules +++ New Biotech plant +++ 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 Sunday, 28 March)
Berliners vaccinated with one vaccine dose: 11.69 per cent (11.39 per cent Saturday)
New cases in one day: +296 (+735 Saturday)
Total number of corona deaths: 3,039 (+3 over Saturday)
🟢 R number: 1.32 (1.2 Saturday)
🔴 New infections per week: 143.3/100,000 inhabitants (138.6 Saturday)
🟡 Share of Berlin ICUs occupied by Covid-19 patients: 18.3 per cent (18.3 per cent Saturday)
Sources: Berlin's coronavirus status page, Impfdashboard.de
The lowdown ...
Are we headed for another hard lockdown?
Chancellor Angela Merkel went on the Anne Will show Sunday night to talk about corona - but presented no clear strategy on how to handle the third wave of infections.
Following last week's botched "federal-state conference", the resulting u-turn over a hard Easter lockdown and subsequent apology, Merkel criticised individual regions and states for going their own way - such as Berlin and the new "test and shop" rules that go into effect on Wednesday. "We won't solve the problem with further opening steps," she said.
If the third wave gets worse, Merkel said her government would look into "changing the Infection Protection Act" to impose stricter restrictions on social contact and movement nationwide - as a way of bringing the states in line.
Merkel's health minister Jens Spahn (CDU) had aleady floated the idea of a "proper 14-day lockdown" during an online discussion Saturday. Brace yourselves.
New rules in Berlin from Wednesday
Berlin already has new rules coming! Following a special meeting Saturday, the Senat decided to impose stricter rules from Wednesday. In a nutshell: FFP2 masks in shops and trains; same-day negative tests for non-essential stores, hairdressers and museums; free tests at the workplace. The details.
New Biontech factory approved
A glimmer of hope: The European Medicines Agency has given the green light for production at the new Biontech site in Marburg, Hesse. The company says it will produce 250m doses of its corona vaccine there by the end of June and claims it can manufacture 1b doses per year at the plant.
In case you missed it ....
Tresor founder Dimitri Hegemann wants to open up a club in a small Brandenburg town. Read on.
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That's all for now, folks. Stay safe!
Yours,
The Berliner Zeitung English team