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Un bar de Berlín avisa de que aplica la 'regla 2G': solo deja entrar a vacunados o recuperados de covid.CHRISTIAN MANG (Reuters)

EuropaUnión Europea, ,

La oleada masiva de hospitalizaciones y fallecimientos debidos a la covid-19 en Alemania plantea inquietantes dudas sobre quién está al mando. Las autoridades alemanas, que fueron incapaces de alcanzar los niveles adecuados de aprovisionamiento de vacunas en las fases tempranas de la pandemia, han vuelto a cometer el mismo error: no han adquirido las dosis de refuerzo necesarias ni han creado una red de centros de vacunación para administrarlas rápidamente. Hasta este fin de semana, solo el 11,4% de la población ha recibido el pinchazo de refuerzo. Es muy difícil conseguir una cita, los consultorios médicos son los únicos autorizados a inocularlos, y la red no se ha ampliado a las farmacias.…  Seguir leyendo »

A demonstrator in Berlin protests anti-coronavirus measures on March 28. (John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images)

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In Germany, politics is supposed to be dull. Everything about the system — its carefully calibrated federalism, support for the European Union and emphasis on coalitions and consensus — is calculated to keep public life as stable as possible. Under normal conditions it works well enough — even if it often puts outsiders to sleep.

But then came the pandemic. Covid-19 has upended the country in ways that no pundit could have ever predicted. Infection rates are soaring. The government is sitting on an unused pile of millions of vaccines as Germans clamor for shots. Corruption scandals are popping up in the ruling party, the Christian Democrats, like holes spouting water in a sinking ship.…  Seguir leyendo »

Mil disculpas por la democracia

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El apresurado cambio de planes de la canciller alemana Angela Merkel, que revocó el apresurado anuncio de un confinamiento para Pascua, causó sorpresa y hasta conmoción, considerando su conducta siempre calma. Más extraordinaria aún fue la disculpa que ofreció al parlamento: «El error fue enteramente mío porque, a fin de cuentas, soy responsable como canciller. Lo lamento profundamente y pido perdón a nuestros ciudadanos».

Merkel actuó correctamente al dar marcha atrás. El confinamiento propuesto —acordado a altas horas de la noche durante una prolongada conferencia de los líderes de los gobiernos regionales alemanes— hubiera implicado el cierre de cadenas de aprovisionamiento vitales y creado caos en las tiendas de alimentos antes del repentino bloqueo.…  Seguir leyendo »

A protester against lockdown measures in Berlin last year. Alternative for Germany has sought to improve its electoral standing by embracing anti-lockdown radicalism. Credit John Macdougall/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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In November, as Covid-19 cases began to rise, thousands of people gathered in Berlin to protest against restrictions. In among the conspiracy theorists and extremists were several lawmakers from the country’s main opposition party, the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany.

It was striking to see legislators mingle with conspiracists in the streets before heading to the parliament for a debate. Yet it wasn’t too surprising. The party, known as AfD, has sought to improve its electoral standing ahead of the national election in September by associating with the anti-lockdown movement, an amorphous mix of conspiracy theorists, shady organizations and outraged citizens.…  Seguir leyendo »

Over 50,000 people have died in Germany since October. For a country that led in pandemic control during the first wave, it has been a shocking reversal. Credit Lennart Preiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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“We have lost control of this thing.”

Those were the words of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, surveying the country’s situation in late January at a confidential meeting. She spoke with typical precision. In Germany, which on Wednesday prolonged its current lockdown until at least March 7, things are bad: Since October, cases have soared — they are only now starting to come down — and over 50,000 people have died. An atmosphere of grim resignation prevails.

But wasn’t Germany one of the global leaders in pandemic control during the first wave? Didn’t Germans enjoy a fairly normal summer of trips to the beach and meeting with friends at beer gardens?…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalSalud PúblicaEuropaUnión Europea, , , , ,

El mundo tomó nota cuando la emergente alemana BioNTech anunció un avance decisivo en el desarrollo de un nuevo tipo de vacuna para combatir el COVID-19. Tras probarla en decenas de miles de personas, la vacuna de BioNTech ha demostrado una eficacia del 95% de protección frente a la infección. La compañía fue la primera en solicitar en los Estados Unidos autorización para un uso de emergencia para un coronavirus, y ha anunciado que pronto adoptará pasos similares en Europa.

Las vacunas antivirales se suelen hacer con materiales virales debilitados fabricados fuera del cuerpo, pero BioNTech siguió un nuevo método: inyectar ARN modificado genéticamente al paciente, lo que impulsa a sus células a producir ellas mismas una proteína característica del virus SARS-CoV-2, con lo que el sistema inmune del cuerpo acumula una respuesta eficaz antes de encontrarse con el virus real.…  Seguir leyendo »

A protester with a former German Empire flag during a demonstration against coronavirus restrictions on Saturday in Berlin. Credit John Macdougall/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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They’re out on the streets again.

On Saturday, around 38,000 people marched in Berlin, calling for an end to pandemic restrictions. It was a bizarre mix of people: families and senior citizens were joined by right-wing extremists, some sporting swastika tattoos. Protesters brandished signs reading “Take off the slave masks,” while others held up peace flags. Many shouted “We are the people” and others called on President Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia to “liberate” Germany.

In a scene bound to be inscribed in the country’s history, a group carrying the “Reichsflagge,” the black, white and red flag of the German Empire that served as the basis for that used by the Nazi regime, broke through a police barrier and attempted to enter the Reichstag, the Parliament building.…  Seguir leyendo »

Workers at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport, which is under construction in Germany. Credit Hayoung Jeon/EPA, via Shutterstock

InternacionalEconomía, ,

Imagine a country, a major Western economic power, where the coronavirus arrived late but the government, instead of denying and delaying, acted early. It was ready with tests and contact tracing to “flatten the curve” swiftly and limited its death rate to orders of magnitude lower than that of any other major Western industrial nation. Containing the virus allowed for a brief and targeted lockdown, which helped limit unemployment to only 6 percent. Amid a shower of international praise, the country’s boringly predictable leader experienced a huge spike in popular approval, to 70 percent from 40 percent.

This mirror image of America under President Trump is Germany under Chancellor Angela Merkel.…  Seguir leyendo »

Dr Katharina Lenherr with new face masks. She recalls scrambling to buy diving goggles and welders’ masks at the outset when there was a shortage © Manuel Nieberle

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This April, Walther Leonhard got an unusual call from the authorities in Rosenheim, his hometown in southern Germany. He was being given a new job, in a new field, with a title that had just been invented, “containment scout”.

Leonhard, 33, who had been working as a court officer in Munich, was soon back home and hitting the phones. He was the latest recruit into Germany’s army of Kontaktmanagers (tracers) — the foot soldiers of its strategy for containing coronavirus.

Leonhard’s job is to call people who have tested positive — and all those they have recently come into contact with — to tell them to self-isolate for a fortnight.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Muchos presentan a Alemania como un ejemplo de buen manejo de la pandemia de COVID‑19. Logramos evitar que nuestro sistema sanitario se viera desbordado; el aplanamiento de la curva de contagios es evidente; y la proporción de casos graves y muertes en Alemania es menor que en muchos otros países. Pero antes que confiarnos demasiado, eso nos da motivos para la humildad.

Veo tres razones por las que Alemania está atravesando esta crisis relativamente bien, por ahora. En primer lugar, la crisis encontró al sistema sanitario en buenas condiciones, y todos han tenido acceso pleno a atención médica. No es mérito exclusivo del gobierno actual, ya que es un sistema construido a lo largo de muchos gobiernos.…  Seguir leyendo »

People on the Landwehr Canal in Berlin, May 9. Credit Christian Mang/Reuters

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For good reason: The curve has flattened. The number of people newly infected each day is stable. The absolute number of deaths and the fatality rate remain low compared to other countries. And the reproduction factor — a key metric to measure the virus’s spread — hovers around one, meaning that on average, one infected person infects only one other person. The first wave of the virus has passed. Germany, cautiously, is reopening.

But as it gradually eases up, opening shops, schools and even museums, the country is learning a tough lesson: The way out is much harder than the way in.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Avec Christian Drosten, jeune professeur de l’Institut de virologie de l’hôpital de la Charité à Berlin, une star allemande vient de naître. Dès décembre, entre Noël et Nouvel An, ce brillant chercheur s’est mis en tête d’identifier et de mettre à disposition, parmi une dizaine d’autres, mais libre de droits, un test de dépistage du coronavirus. Un objectif qu’il atteint à la mi-janvier. Lui manque-t-il alors, comme c’est le cas en France, ces réactifs qui feraient que son dispositif soit opérationnel ? Nullement, car Drosten sait parfaitement où, en Allemagne, opèrent les laboratoires qui les fabriquent.

Christian Drosten est ainsi, dès janvier, le seul à détenir le test qui lui permettra, dans une forme de copier-coller, d’appliquer la stratégie sanitaire sud-coréenne impliquant, après avoir testé un maximum de patients infectés, d’atteindre cinq fois plus de victimes potentielles que nulle part ailleurs en Europe, avant de les confiner massivement.…  Seguir leyendo »

How likely are Germans to favor Italy’s euro-zone membership? This figure shows the support of German voters for Italy’s euro-zone membership according to our April 2020 survey of 4,500 respondents. Fifty-one percent favor Italy remaining in the euro zone, while 30 percent are opposed when they receive all information (left panel). When forced to choose between Italexit and debt mutualization, only 35 percent would choose Italexit, while 48 would chose shared debts (right panel). Source: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Italexit survey April 2020.

EuropaUnión EuropeaEconomía, , ,

The covid-19 pandemic is plausibly the biggest challenge to Europe’s economies since the Great Depression. The coronavirus is hurting all European countries at the same time — but with differing economic fallout. Countries such as Germany and the Netherlands can easily borrow money to respond to the crash.

But countries like Italy and Spain fear that their bond yields — the price they pay to borrow money — will spike if they increase their public debt.

Are common European bonds a possible solution? Some countries and economists have called for this response. Such suggestions have always failed in the past, because of perceived public opposition in northern countries like Germany and the Netherlands.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Angela Merkel is facing a European revolt.

In the past 10 days, the normally staid, diplomatic politics of the European Union have more closely resembled the bitter partisanship of Washington. A meeting of European leaders descended into a contentious five-hour showdown, ending in acrimony and explosive leaks. Heated rhetoric, negative political ads, impassioned public appeals and bitter references to World War II now fill European papers.

The spark that kindled this fire was a proposal from nine E.U. states, led by France, Spain and Italy, to proceed with so-called coronavirus bonds, which would empower the E.U. to respond economically to the crisis.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Al igual que el resto de los países europeos, Alemania atraviesa la tercera gran crisis en una década. Pero esta vez existe la esperanza de que las consecuencias políticas sean muy diferentes En Alemania, la crisis del euro y la de los refugiados provocaron el desgaste de los partidos de centro y reforzaron los extremos. Mientras que, hace una década, las grandes formaciones CDU/CSU y SPD sumaban alrededor del 70% de los votos, actualmente han descendido por debajo del 50%.

Sin embargo, en la crisis del coronavirus, los partidos centristas vuelven a subir en los sondeos, Alternativa para Alemania (AfD) pierde simpatías, y lo mismo ocurre con La Izquierda y Los Verdes.…  Seguir leyendo »

Soldiers of the German army at a coronavirus testing site in Sankt Wendel, Germany, on Thursday. Credit Ronald Wittek/EPA, via Shutterstock

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Europe is in crisis.

Countries across the Continent are in lockdown. Borders are closed off. Health care systems are dangerously overstretched. Economies are contracting. And people are dying, in terrifying numbers.

Here is much the same. Though not in full lockdown, schools, shops, restaurants and theaters are closed; gatherings of more than two people are banned. The economy will shrink and jobs will be lost. Even Chancellor Angela Merkel self-quarantined after learning that her doctor was infected. (She tested negative.) Germany, it seems, is not immune to the ravages of the pandemic.

Except in one way: Very few people seem to be dying.…  Seguir leyendo »

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As Covid-19 closes in on the United States, physicians and epidemiologists and crystal ball spinners are trying to forecast just how bad things might get. Right now, cases are already in the tens of thousands and climbing every day. The enormous costs to society and to individuals seem too staggering to comprehend.

The number of deaths, however, is the most important measure to define where this pandemic settles in the grim lineup of previous catastrophic infectious diseases. Worldwide, more than 4% of patients—nearing 19,000 -- have died, with many more to come, and each death its own heartbreaking story.

As of this past weekend, nine countries had diagnosed more than 9,000 cases, and three -- South Korea, Switzerland, and Germany -- had deaths rates well below the others.…  Seguir leyendo »