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Outdoor catering in Munich: sample for dealing with the virus
Photo: STL / imago images / STL
The first Oktoberfest Saturday is a fixed date in the annual calendar of Bavarian politicians and party friends.
At 12 o'clock sharp, the mayor taps the first beer and hands it to the prime minister.
After tapping, the others can also drink.
As is well known, the kick-off folklore this year, like the entire Oktoberfest.
Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) and Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) had to cancel the break in April because of Corona.
However, a number of events help the people of Munich and their remaining guests to get over the phantom pain - so many that even in Bavaria it is discussed whether too much has not already been allowed.
The most visible sign: FC Bayern may not play its opening game in front of an audience at the beginning of the season.
At first it was said that around 7,500 fans should watch the game in the Allianz Arena.
But Reiter had to collect the plan again.
Given the incidence, the mayor said "it would be the wrong signal to let spectators into the stadiums".
Reiter: "It's bitter for the fans, but the crisis isn't over yet."
Despite this measure, other larger groups will gather in the city on the weekend: 50 city center inns and large restaurateurs called for the "WirtshausWiesn", where specially brewed beer is served in the inns under strict hygiene requirements and some Oktoberfest musicians play.
The city has been offering the starving showmen areas for their rides for weeks.
The retail trade calls for people to shop in traditional costumes; those who spend money in such a habit receive a beer voucher on top.
And some hardcore Oktoberfest fans who want to kick off on their own will gather on the festival site.
Alcohol ban on Theresienwiese
You have to do it soberly, however, because the city has issued an all-day alcohol ban on Theresienwiese.
It's about stopping private substitute parties.
In between, a ban on entry was also discussed.
The tricky weekend is seen as a test for dealing with the virus in the coming weeks.
Live and let live is a maxim that is often quoted in Bavaria.
In the corona crisis, it takes on a whole new meaning: Is the balance between everyday life and health protection successful?
Between reasonable caution and legitimate easing?
The number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within one week in the state capital on this Friday is 50.7 - and thus above the important limit value above which increased infection protection measures are planned.
Since the pandemic began, more than 10,000 people have been infected in Munich.
Virologists and politicians are more concerned about such big city numbers than individual peaks.
In the Swabian town of Memmingen, for example, a few clusters of holiday returnees were enough to push the figure upwards.
In Garmisch-Partenkirchen, it was possible that a 26-year-old American woman infected several work colleagues in a hotel for the armed forces and in two Garmisch bars, the chains of infection are still unclear.
But apart from the spectacular cases, the practical test in everyday life is still pending.
Many families in Bavaria have only been back from summer vacation around ten days.
Except in elementary schools, students and teachers had to wear masks during class.
From Monday, the mask requirement will no longer apply in class - but not in Munich, where the unpopular requirement due to the high Munich values will continue to apply.
The analysis of the Bavarian figures by Söder and his government is as follows: In spring it was the skiers, naturally more numerous in Upper Bavaria than in Western Pomerania, who brought the virus with them from the hotspots.
A period of relative calm followed.
Then there were more family returnees, for example from Turkey or the Balkans: a group that is also strongly represented in other federal states with a lot of industry, for example in Baden-Württemberg, Hesse or North Rhine-Westphalia.
Economy and schools before leisure
"There is no one in Europe who would dispute the word second wave," said Söder this week.
The prime minister referred to the poor numbers in neighboring countries.
It's not easy in Germany either.
"Corona worries some, Corona annoys others incredibly."
His priority: It is not appropriate to follow any mood, but to be careful in the long term.
Söder's main focus is on the recovery of the economy as well as the schools and daycare centers.
"Everything else is a can."
The chairman of the CSU parliamentary group, Thomas Kreuzer, is also concerned about the numbers.
In a current position paper of his group it says: "We need a risk-adjusted approach to Corona, which continues to protect vulnerable groups in particular, but at the same time allows as much of the normality as possible before Corona and demands even more personal responsibility."
The coming days will show what that means in concrete terms.
In Munich, the mayor's crisis team may decide on new measures.
In addition to their own figures, the Bavarians are also looking to Austria, where things have become more relaxed in the meantime, but restrictions have recently been introduced again.
Germany has declared Vienna a risk area, an attribution that Bavaria would like to avoid.
Clemens Wendtner, chief physician for infectious diseases at the Schwabing Clinic, expressed his skepticism about a "Wiesn light": Where alcohol is drunk in groups, super-spreader events "that throw us all back in our fight against the virus" could easily arise.
However, there have recently been no such massive outbreaks in Bavaria, neither the reopening of the beer gardens nor that of the pubs and taverns had a negative effect.
The corona death rate is stagnating, the situation in the hospitals is relaxed.
Nevertheless, not only waiters and police officers in Munich will be working extra shifts this weekend: the Corona test station on Theresienwiese is also open on Sunday as an exception.
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