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Carnival start in the corona pandemic - up to 15,000 vaccinated and recovered jesters are expected in Cologne to traditionally celebrate on the hay market.
Only those who have proof are allowed to be there.
“Yes, I'm wearing an FFP2 mask underneath, the carnival mask over it. Yes, actually with an uncertain feeling, but I hope for the best. "
“Yes, I mean, you almost expected something like this to come about somehow. But yes, let's make the best of it, we have to go on somehow. "
A few hours before the start of the carnival, the data website of the RKI shows this dramatic number: 50,196 new infections.
New highs have been reported for days, the previous year's record levels have long been exceeded.
Doctors and hospitals are sounding the alarm.
Axel Fischer, hospital manager in Munich
»We are growing exponentially and I believe that breaking it properly would only be possible with a real lock-down. But we don't want that, nobody wants it anymore and it can no longer be mediated and also not politically enforceable. "
Not much was said in the Bundestag in the morning about a possible lockdown, but SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz swore by the serious situation.
Vaccination centers would have to be reopened, free tests made available again and 2G rules monitored more consistently.
Olaf Scholz, SPD candidate for chancellor
“We must also take many, many other measures that are necessary to get us through this winter. We have to make our country winter-proof, so to speak. "
Axel Fischer, hospital manager in Munich
»We have to boost endlessly. We failed to do that, it is a political failure to point out at some point that we need boosters. We should have started that three or four months ago. "
But the booster vaccinations are starting too slowly.
And wherever vaccination is possible, there are sometimes hours of waiting across the country, as here on Tuesday in Dresden.
“We already stood here on Saturday, at the Waldschlösschen. Standing outside for 5 hours and then the vaccine ran out shortly before we got there. «
“I wanted to get vaccinated because I'm going to visit my grandchildren in the next few weeks. The politicians can keep calling for so long that you should go, if they don't organize it better, that's bad. "
“Why did they close the vaccination centers a month or two ago? One could foresee that the next wave would happen in autumn, and we from the responsible politicians think that is impossible. "
The situation in hospitals is also becoming increasingly serious, and operating theaters have already been postponed in order to have capacity for corona patients.
More and more clinics fear overload.
Axel Fischer, hospital manager in Munich
“We can't do a fifth or a sixth next winter. Then at some point I will no longer have any staff. We're already keeping them going. And those are the real heroes out there, they keep doing it. And the bad thing is that a lot, I'm looking out now, bright sunshine and life is beautiful in itself, but the population doesn't even notice what's going on in our clinics. "
The situation is serious - and for the Cologne junkies it remains to be hoped that the vaccination breakthrough for their prince and the cancellation of the traditional parade of the so-called triumvirate remain the only bad news.
