The latest corona stats for Berlin (tallied Sunday, 2 May)
Berliners vaccinated with one vaccine dose: 24.8 per cent
New cases in one day: +57 (+499 Saturday) - this number always drops on Sunday.
Total number of corona deaths: 3,216 (+2)
🟢 R number: 0.91 (0.89 Saturday)
🔴 New infections per week: 122.9/100,000 inhabitants (121 Saturday)
🔴 Share of Berlin ICUs occupied by Covid-19 patients: 25.8 per cent (26.1 per cent Saturday)
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Sources: Berlin's coronavirus status page, impfdashboard.de
The latest news
Group 3, you're up
From today, people belonging to vaccination group 3 can book an appointment at service.berlin.de/corona (FAQs in English here). Group 3 includes all over-60s, and people in certain high-risk groups such as those with a chronic health condition, as well as people working in particular jobs like educators, election helpers and journalists. Getting an appointment at a vaccination centre could take a while though. We just tried online - July 21 was the earliest we could get, though a colleague scored an appointment in late May over the hotline (030 9028-2200, open 7am to 6pm).
Baby steps to more freedom
Vice-chancellor Olaf Scholz, also the SPD's candidate for chancellor in the September election, said on TV that the cabinet was working on a plan that would give vaccinated people and those who can show they recovered from Covid-19 access to more basic freedoms such as shopping or getting a haircut without a corona test. Scholz said the measures were likely to get fastracked through parliament by Friday.
Doctors thank actors for their satirical videos
Last week, half of Germany piled on the 53 actors who voiced their concerns about the nation's corona policies in a series of short videos under hashtag #allesdichtmachen. The actors were berated as Querdenker corona skeptics, or worse. In a surprising twist, several doctors have posted videos in support of the actors. Munich pediatrician Steffen Rabe, was one of them: "I am grateful to the actors and actresses of the #allesdichtmachen campaign for ensuring, in their very own way, that the side effects, the damage caused by the policies, are not forgotten."
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Thought more trash was being generated in the pandemic? That's not what the numbers say.
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