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 Monday, 2 November)
New cases in one day: +713
Total number of corona deaths: 261 (no change)
🟢 R number: 1.09 (1.10 Sunday)
🔴 New infections per week: 166.3 / 100,000 inhabitants (166.1 Sunday)
🟢 Share of Berlin ICUs occupied by Covid-19 patients: 13.7 per cent (13.9 per cent Sunday)
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Source: Berlin's coronavirus status page
The lowdown...
Businesses challenge lockdown light
Day one of the lockdown didn't really seem like one. Nonetheless, with bars and restaurants shut, Berlin neighbourhoods felt like a small town with a busy high street - but with no culture offerings or nightlife to speak of. A mere 27 days of this to go before we (maybe) go back to the old new normal.
A number of companies have launched a legal challenge against the lockdown: Berlin's administrative court said it has received 39 emergency appeals against the directive. The plaintiffs include restaurant owners, a concert promoter and a fitness studio.
Soldiers to help out in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg after all
Following a political kerfuffle over the district's refusal to ask the German military for help with contact tracing, the Green-led area - ground zero of Germany's alternative-left scene - has changed its tune and asked the federal government to send in the troops. Four to be exact, to help out with corona testing - at a quarantined refugee home with 400 residents, for example. Despite rising infection numbers and over-stretched public health workers, Green district mayor Monika Hermann had hitherto rejected military help - causing CDU politicos like Annegret Kramp-Karrenbeuer to accuse her of being "ideologically driven."
Another Xmas market down
The traditional Christmas market at Schloss Charlottenburg has been cancelled, its organiser Tommy Erbe announced on Monday. He said that despite having a comprehensive hygiene concept that was seen positively by authorities, the market would not take place. The market normally has 250 stalls against the romantic backdrop of Charlottenburg Palace.
In case you missed it...
The German government is doling out up to €10 billion to businesses affected by the current "lockdown light". Get all the info here.
That's all for now folks. Stay safe!
Yours,
The Berliner Zeitung English team
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