Today's corona news in 60 seconds

Berlin-Every weekday at 11am come to the Berliner Zeitung English Edition for the latest corona/Covid-19 news at a glance.

First, the official corona stats for Berlin (tallied Thursday, 24 September)

R number: 0.83 (0.94 Wednesday)

New infections per week: 26.3 / 100,000 inhabitants (26.1 Wednesday)

Percentage of Covid-19 patients in intensive care: 1.4 per cent (no change)

Total number of corona deaths: 228 (no change)

Source: Berlin's coronavirus status page 

The lowdown...

Survival summit for Berlin's bars and restaurants

Bars and restaurants are anxious about about the mix of approaching cold weather and rising infection numbers. Berlin's economy minister, Ramona Pop (Greens) seems to feel their pain and is hosting what's being called the Kneipengipfel (bar summit). She's invited reps of the hospitality industry to discuss survival strategies - including allowing the citywide use of Heizpilze (the mushroom-shaped gas heaters used to keep outdoor diners cosy in winter). Outdoor heaters are currently banned from sidewalks in eight districts, due to their exorbitant energy consumption.

Berlin researchers have a hot lead

Researchers at Charité University Hospital and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) have discovered "highly effective" antibodies against the coronavirus that they are now using to develop a passive immunisation, the hospital announced on Thursday. Read the full story.

More EU travel warnings

The list keeps growing. The German government has categorised Lisbon, Dublin, Copenhagen and border areas of the Czech Republic and Austria as "risk regions".  These are places where the number of new infections has risen above 50 per 100,000 inhabitants. Travelers from risk countries are required to get tested for the virus within 48 hours of returning to Germany. Currently, 14 out 27 EU countries are affected.

In case you missed it...

We have a fabulous interview with piano star Igor Levit, known for his online Beethoven concerts during lockdown. Levit's not one to shy away from being vocal about politics. Spoiler: he's not down with the AfD.

That's all for now folks. Stay healthy!

Yours,

The Berliner Zeitung English team

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