News of the day: family doctors in the corona crisis, long-term consequences of Covid-19, lawsuit against Google

1. In all friendship, Corona version

Dr.

A., warm Hanseatic, golden glasses, kind look, was my family doctor for 20 years.

She knew me, my ailments, like a mechanic knows an old car that rolls into his workshop every year at the beginning of the winter season with a weak battery.

It has not been so cozy in general practitioners' practices since the beginning of the

.

My colleague Nike Laurenz spoke to general practitioners in major German cities - from Cologne to Dresden, from Hamburg to Munich - and asked them to explain the problems they are currently facing: How do you cope with the onslaught of people who want to be tested, where brings man - it is winter - the waiting now under?

What if an office assistant tests positive and the practice has to close bang on case - and you can no longer talk to the answering machine again to inform the patient about the closure?

Admittedly, this morning I was a little upset about doctors who, half a year after the first corona wave, have not positioned themselves better logistically (unfortunately there are too) and who, in view of the locked waiting rooms, don't know how to help each other than patients queuing in a confined space in the staircase.

After reading Nike's story, however, the

by far.

Nike puts it this way: "Although it was difficult for some practices to find a way to cope with the onslaught of patients and the chaos of bureaucracy, almost all of them let me know: They are now very happy to be there for people - and want to continue to do so be."

Dr.

Bettina Heitmann from Hamburg now also offers a video consultation: "For this, I had to get certified software from the German Medical Association that costs us money every month," she says.

After all: the video appointments "relieve our waiting area"

Photo: 

Bettina Heitmann

• Read the full story here: "It is foreseeable that the system will implode"

2.

Covid-19 has not finished yet

Have you heard of the recent Trump tantrum?

The US President, whose nerves are apparently fluttering because of lousy polls, is said to have been upset in a smaller circle about his chief immunologist

, writes the New York Times.

Trump insulted the scientist - with typically limited vocabulary - as a "disaster" and then complained that people were tired of "these idiots" in the government constantly pounding Corona in their ears.

Once again the "leader of the western world" shows himself like a growling toddler who does not want to eat its porridge.

Counter cut: Let's talk about Thomas Tielen.

He looks like someone who is not knocked off quickly, a cheerful, robust guy.

In spring he was infected with Corona while on vacation in Austria, survived the disease - but still suffers from the long-term effects.

Icon: enlarge

Thomas Tielen in rehab in Heiligendamm: He is one of many Covid 19 recovered who have long suffered from the after-effects of the disease

Photo: Reuters / DER SPIEGEL

My colleague Birgit Großekathöfer has edited a film that shows how Thomas Tielen, who allegedly recovered from Covid-19, "fought his way back to life" in a clinic in Heiligendamm, as a doctor puts it.

Tielen describes how his body, his brain, still let him down, even months after the acute illness.

As a salesman, he could always rely on his quick wits, now he often "no longer gets information and appointments on the chain".

Sometimes he has pain in the shower in the morning when the water falls on his skin, and then he cries.

If you meet people who, like children who are greedy, have "had enough of Corona", tell them about this film.

And: Get well soon, Thomas Tielen!

• See the report on long-term corona damage here: "I forget everything"

3.

Google this!

When was the last time you used Bing, DuckDuckGo or Yandex to search for something on the internet?

Just.

If you search, you will find it via Google.

The US Department of Justice now wants to sue the company and break its absolute market power.

It could be the largest antitrust litigation in the United States in decades.

Icon: enlarge

Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California: Couldn't look more harmless, but it has overwhelming market power

Photo: 

JHVEPhoto / Getty Images

"According to everything we know so far," says my colleague and Netzwelt editor Max Hoppenstedt, "it should be about the core of Google's business: Anyone who wants to place an advertisement efficiently on the Internet will sooner or later end up with the Mountain Group View - and whoever wants to search something, too. The process could also be exciting because other tech companies such as Apple or Samsung could also play an important role. Smartphone manufacturers sometimes have lucrative deals so that their millions of customers use Google as the standard search engine on their devices is suggested.

The process is likely to drag on for years.

One of the open questions is whether the allegations collected by the US Department of Justice will be enough to invalidate a defense strategy of the tech companies that is popular under antitrust law: It is often argued that one's own approach is not harmful to prices in the market because one's own services are anyway The timing of the lawsuit is unlikely to be a coincidence: in just under two weeks, the US will vote.

• Read the full story here: US government wants to sue Google for monopoly

What else is important today

• Grand coalition agrees on a compromise on racism study:

  Interior Minister Horst Seehofer accommodates the SPD in calling for a study on racism in the police.

• The teacher who defended freedom of expression:

  France mourns Samuel Paty, who was the victim of an Islamist attack.

  Pupils, colleagues and parents describe the teacher as a role model educator who was recently very insecure.

• Murderer Peter Madsen caught after a prison break:

  The Danish police stopped an attempt to escape by the inventor Peter Madsen, who was sentenced to life imprisonment.

  The 49-year-old had apparently already moved several hundred meters from the detention center.

• 17-year-old admits fatal blow on Augsburg's Königsplatz:

  In Augsburg, the trial of the death of a family father has begun after visiting the Christmas market.

  Three young men are on trial, the 17-year-old main defendant had his lawyer read a confession.

What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +

• What if Trump doesn't accept an election defeat?

  The US presidential election is causing tension in Europe too.

  This is how politicians and diplomats prepare for three different scenarios.

• The 387 billion euro deal:

  No other industry flows as much EU money as agriculture.

  But the planned reform of agricultural policy does not take environmental protection into account.

  Some players in Brussels benefit from the old system as farmers.

• Michael Roth's one-man show:

  Because of the strict Corona travel rules, a German minister of state holds the position in Brussels and is responsible for everything.

  How is he doing?

• What the new Apple phones can do:

  5G, camera, battery: Apple has redesigned the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro.

  Is it worth changing?

  We have extensively tested the new models for you.

Which is not so important today

Icon: enlarge

Jeffrey Toobin: The US author let it be known that he made "an embarrassing and stupid mistake" and apologized "to my wife, family and colleagues"

Photo: D Dipasupil / Getty Images

• An old journalistic rule says: the hotter a substance, the cooler you have to write it down.

  For the incident involving

  Jeffrey Toobin

  , 60, "disgusting" is certainly the more appropriate category, so here in cool words: The magazine has the American lawyer, journalist and bestselling author - his book "The People vs OJ Simpson" is on my shelf - suspended.

  He is said to have exposed himself during a video conference.

  Two people who took part in the zoom round in question reportedly stated that they saw Toobin masturbate (the case is covered extensively on social media, hashtag #ZoomDick).

  Toobin apparently believed his camera was off and was wrong.

  The incident leaves me disgusted.

  I just close this entry with the wish that Mr. Toobin get the medical and psychological help that he obviously needs urgently.

Typo of the day

, now corrected: "In 2023, the small robot spaceship is supposed to drop the container with the asteroid samples with a parachute over a desert in the state of Utah."

Cartoon of the day:

Corona mutations

Icon: enlarge Photo: Thomas Plaßmann

And tonight?

I'm not going to watch the

umpteenth remake

of Daphne du Maurier's

novel

- I feel a nostalgic connection to this book, one of the first "adult" psychological thrillers that I read when I was around 13.

But I recommend the malicious condemnation of my colleague Wolfgang Höbel to you.

For Netflix, the meanwhile well-worn material - gray mouse marries English aristocrat, now lives in the shadow of his first, deceased wife, followed by a surprising plot twist - has now been reissued.

New, but not better - and very bloodless.

"It seems rather to be the chaste cleanliness of their relationship that enthuses Mr and Mrs de Winter for each other," writes Wolfgang.

"Probably the de Winters never take off their pajamas even in the marriage bed."

Icon: enlarge

Mrs de Winter (played by Lily James, who is actually way too beautiful for the role) and the nasty Mrs Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas)

Photo: Kerry Brown / AP

Have a nice evening.

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