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| Europe |
| Germany Closes Its Borders |
| 2020-03-15 |
| [BBC] According to German media, the borders will grudgingly close at 08:00 (07:00 GMT) on Monday. However, goods will continue to flow between the countries and commuters may still cross the borders. The aim is to contain coronavirus but also reportedly to curb panic-buying by foreigners which has led to some supply problems in the border regions. Germany has seen at least nine deaths with coronavirus and 4,585 cases of infection. |
| Posted by:Matt |
| #27 Except toilet paper, everything was available here on Saturday. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 23:34 |
| #26 The stores here have been devastated. Most shelves are bare. Fortunately, I have seen pallets of resupply for the stores, but hopefully supplies can keep up with the panic demand. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2020-03-15 23:29 |
| #25 I might add that I personally closed a cafe today within minutes when I walked by before the meeting and saw a waitress outside sneezing in her hand and then touching the rim of the cup she served with it. It took one phone call to police. Within 5 minutes officers appeared and closed it. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 22:48 |
| #24 I can only give one recommendation. You may (and only may) be a few days behind the European curve. Which gives you the opportunity to act a few days earlier than we. Every day counts. Don't ask what it will cost. It will cost a lot but it will cost more tomorrow, and you will have to do it anyway. We don't see too many problems with supplies. We noticed that in Italy, grocery stores are well stocked. We expect some disruptions, so you may not get your favorite brand of cheese. But you will get cheese. The measures I recommend nationwide: Identify hot spots and seal them off. If New York has a lot more cases than New Jersey, New Yorkers need to stay put and people from New Jersey should not enter without a good reason. One German land had an early hotspot and didn't seal it off in time. That's how infections exploded in this land. Close all schools, universities, bars, restaurants (delivery is ok) and just about any venue where people meet. See to it that people are not afraid to be diagnosed with the virus and be quarantined. Nobody who is quarantined should lose a dollar. Quarantine is in the public interest. Protect the elderly. Don't walk into a senior residence. But we decided that it's ok if relatives meet their grandparents OUTSIDE the residence, if they take appropriate protective measures. Avoid public transport if you can. At least in Munich, this is quite feasible. Get some exercise with your bike. It's springtime, folks! Austria wants to make people stay inside except for grocery shopping of going to work (if you can't work from home). But we decided that walking in a park should be no issue if you keep the appropriate distance. This is not World War Z. And people won't tolerate prison conditions for very long. A good mood helps, too. If you're healthy, offer help, e.g. shopping for people in quarantine. Don't despair: If we follow these measures, infection rates will drop. We've never had these kind of measures. They could actually starve the virus to death. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 22:36 |
| #23 Good luck to you EC and the Germans. We have already started shutting down everything in Colorado. I'm Work From Home until further notice and have a few weeks of supplies if a hard lockdown comes down. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2020-03-15 22:01 |
| #22 Good stuff USN Ret. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-03-15 17:30 |
| #21 AP, my son-in-law and daughter are both teachers in Yelm and, while school is not in session, they still have to go in and the doors are not locked. assume so students can access library, retrieve personal gear, etc. their daughter just came home from college on east side (not WSU) and is offering to babysit for parents that have to work. not entirely sure I like that idea; for either party. For all Burgers; do a drive-by or call that elderly or live alone neighbor to just say hi and if they need anything picked up while you are out. the karma might come back around if you need to shut down. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2020-03-15 17:28 |
| #20 Returning from Europe... just now? Have they been in medically induced coma for the last 2-3 weeks? Shelter in fok'n place and enjoy the schnitzel and Hefeweizen until it blows over. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-03-15 16:25 |
| #19 Airports are handling this irresponsibly. Waiting in thick crowds for 5 hours to be screened? What could possibly go wrong? |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 16:22 |
| #18 Besoeker, these are people returning from Europe. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 16:18 |
| #17 Who ARE these people who continue to queue up and travel via air, or boat for that matter? Close the airports to international travel until this mess is cleaned up. COME ON people. I just watched the Gov. of IL on Fox News tell everyone that the State would continue to the school lunch program. WTF ? Re-designated.... 'home lunch program?' |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-03-15 16:17 |
| #16 And THIS REALLY HAS TO STOP |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 16:09 |
| #15 Alaska Paul Yes, NYC (and other places) should act NOW. Every day counts. Italy shows a flattening curve already (15% growth per day) after one week of lock down. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 16:00 |
| #14 COVID-19: New York Will Be The Next Italy, But Doesn’t Have to Be |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2020-03-15 15:22 |
| #13 Here is a site called BEYOND CONTACT TRACING: Community-based early detection for Ebola response This site shows how various levels of compliance will extend or shorten the extent of an epidemic, in this case ebola. Hat tip: Western Rifle Shooters |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2020-03-15 15:12 |
| #12 Which is exactly what it is. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 14:57 |
| #11 OK, I can't be the only English speaker who chuckles at "Gesundheitsamt". No offense to the Germans or their language, but to us it sounds like a government office dedicated to reacting to people's sneezes. Which, come to think of it, is probably accurate. |
| Posted by: Ebbinter Poodle9969 2020-03-15 14:54 |
| #10 TW I understand. Here in Germany, the Gesundheitsamt can order a mandatory quarantine, if you have been tested positive or if you have been in close contact with someone who has been tested positive (which of course means that the whole household is quarantined. This quarantine means that you must not leave your home, not even for grocery shopping. Articles may be delivered to your door. If you don't follow these rules you could be arrested. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 14:49 |
| #9 Dual use item transfers not affected. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-03-15 14:37 |
| #8 Off topic. European Conservative, yesterday you asked if quarantine is being enforced. Here is one case in Kentucky where it is, though this is a confirmed coronavirus infection, and the patient ran away from the hospital. A CORONAVIRUS patient in Kentucky has been placed under 24/7 armed guard after refusing to self-isolate. Gov. Andy Beshear said the state had to make the unusual move to protect others nearby. Deputies are now stationed outside the 53-year-old man's house around-the-clock in Nelson County. "It's a step I hoped I never had to take, but we can't allow one person who we know has this virus to refuse to protect their neighbors," Gov. Beshear told reporters. The unidentified man is the only coronavirus patient in the county, and officials were worried that he could infect others. A total of 18 people have tested positive in Kentucky. The patient had left the hospital without permission, according to TV station WDRB. "We've got to make sure that people who have tested positive, that we know could be spreading the virus, and simply refuse to do the right thing, do the right thing," the governor said, according to the Herald Leader. County Judge-Executive Dean Watts declared a state of emergency and invoked an obscure statute to allow the forced self-quarantine, the newspaper reported. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2020-03-15 14:11 |
| #7 population 13,000,000 and 17,000,000 of course |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 13:26 |
| #6 Alaska Paul Thank you as well. I think you will face the same situation in about a week, once testing shows that your numbers aren't any better than here. We noticed a difference between Bavaria (pop. 1,300,000) and North Rhine Westphalia (pop. 1,700,000). Bavaria has 682 cases, NRW has 2100 . The reason? NRW had an early hotspot they didn't seal off, 10 km away a football match with 60,000 people took place, and Carnival played a role, too. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 13:25 |
| #5 Thank you TW The U.S. is going to experience the same. German hospitals should be able to deal with the situation. 25000 beds with ventilators, this should suffice. The exponential curve must come down. In Germany, we have 30% increase per day. The drastic measures should bring this down. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 13:14 |
| #4 Though we in northwest Washington State, US, are not at the situation you face, EC, the screws are slowly tightening. M'Lady is a contract school psychologist, and the governor has closed all schools effective Tuesday 17 May. She will be required to work remotely as her psychological services are required. I am working remotely from Alaska engineering. We are staying away from crowds and have laid up supplies for quite a while, which we usually do. I hope that you and yours are safe and prepared. We will all get through this. Best wishes from across the pond. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2020-03-15 13:07 |
| #3 I was going to snark about Frau Merkel's attitude toward borders, but this is too serious. Normal snarking will resume in 30 days. |
| Posted by: Matt 2020-03-15 13:05 |
| #2 Prayers for all involved, European Conservative. Hopefully your part of the world will soon be over the peak and down the the recovery side of the curve — even more hopefully without overloading hospitals like they are in Italy. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2020-03-15 12:44 |
| #1 We just ended a city council meeting. Bavaria (and Munich, unfortunately a hot spot) will go into an almost complete lock down tomorrow. Bars will be closed, most restaurants and shops will see drastic measures (and close down the next days anyway). Municipal elections did take place today. Measures will be announced when poll stations close at 6pm. Austria has enacted even stricter measures. Any assembly of more than 5 people is not allowed anymore. Germany will close borders to France, Switzerland, Austria an Denmark tomorrow. Poland and the Czech Republic have already closed their borders. Goods will still be transported. Very wise measures. Thanks for your participation in all of this decision making if applicable (and I'll bet you are a part of it) EC. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-03-15 12:29 |