Today's corona news in 60 seconds
+++ Longer lockdown +++ Charité crisis +++ Hospital pay +++ 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 Monday, 28 December)
New cases in one day: 646 (815 Sunday)
Total number of corona deaths: 1,172 (+23 over Sunday)
🟢 R number: 0.70 (0.70 Sunday)
🔴 New infections per week: 173.5/ 100,000 inhabitants (168.1 Sunday)
🔴 Share of Berlin ICUs occupied by Covid-19 patients: 32.7 per cent (32.2 per cent Sunday)
Source: Berlin's coronavirus status page
The lowdown...
Lockdown extension, probably
Our mayor, who is also currently leading a committee of the heads of Germany's 16 states, says restrictions beyond 10 January are likely since corona statistics have stagnated at a high level and are only slightly declining, at best. Michael Müller (our mayor) made the statements to state broadcaster ZDF and has telegraphed most recent restrictions days before they were passed or announced.
Continuing crisis (mode)
The Charité hospital has extended its crisis mode to 10 January, meaning all surgeries that can be postponed until a later date have been. The hospital Monday said it has 130 Covid-19 patients but is still providing emergency care as before. A hospital manager said infection and hospitalisation rates are expected to remain stable and won't allow the hospital to return to normal operations any time soon. About 1/3 of the city's intensive care beds are occupied by corona patients.
Hospitals need help
The head of the German hospital association warned that many clinics across the country won't be able to meet payroll in the first quarter after delaying elective surgeries and keeping beds free in anticipation of corona patients. A new government support plan will only help 25 per cent of the institutions, the official, Gerald Gaß, told newswire Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. He wants the government to pony up the missing funds.
In case you missed it...
Some university students kicked off a charity this summer that has already sent tonnes of donated goods to children in Beirut. They're now hoping to send school supplies and develop a modular aid platform to help in more crisis regions.
That's all for now, folks. Stay safe!
Yours,
The Berliner Zeitung English team
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