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, 29 November)
New cases in one day: 332 (Saturday 824)
Total number of corona deaths: 553 (+3 over Saturday)
🟢 R number: 0.92 (0.82 Saturday)
🔴 New infections per week: 202 / 100,000 inhabitants (200.9 Saturday)
🟡 Share of Berlin ICUs occupied by Covid-19 patients: 24.2 per cent (25.3 per cent Saturday)
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Source: Berlin's coronavirus status page
The lowdown...
New socialising rules since Sunday
The lockdown lite rule update for Berlin went into effect yesterday. In short: a maximum of five people from two households can meet for private events. Previously the limit was 10. Kids 12 and under are exempt - I guess that explains the huge kids birthday party I saw in the park over the weekend.
Health insurer reports fewer sick days.
The AOK Nordost Krankenkasse reported a large drop in sick leave for typical autumn illnesses in the period 28 September to 15 November. The number of sick days due to upper respiratory tract infections, influenza, pneumonia, gastrointestinal infections and acute bronchitis fell by 27 per cent in Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. AOK Nordost attributes the drop to people following the government's AHA guidelines (Abstand, Händewaschen, Alltagsmaske - distance, hand-washing, everyday-masks).
Free Currywurst for the needy
The Curry Paule snack truck in the southern Neukölln neighbourhood of Rudow is offering free Wurst for Berliners who have taken a hit financially in the pandemic - financed by customers who can afford to part with some cash and want to show some solidarity. The whole thing works through an anonymous ticket system - to prevent embarrassment: pay for two sausages, eat one and get a voucher for the other one to place on a board out front that a needy person can take and hand in for a freebie - no questions asked.
In case you missed it...
Last week, Moustafa Daly, a journalist from Cairo who is with us for a two-month exchange, wrote a piece about his baffling, awkward experience with the German cops: "Victim to suspect in the blink of an eye - my encounter with Berlin bureaucracy."
That's all for now, folks. Stay safe!
Yours,
The Berliner Zeitung English team
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