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News of the day: Lockdown in Austria, fighting pandemics, new dinosaurs

2021-11-19T16:34:27.941Z


Austria is shutting down public life, Bavaria is closing Christmas markets, bars and clubs. For this, cannabis is to be legalized soon. And there is also spectacular news from the world of dinosaurs. That is the situation on Friday evening.


1. Again every year

Austria will go into lockdown from Monday.

"That hurts a lot," said Chancellor Schallenberg, but because there are too many unvaccinated people, the step must be taken.

The country goes even further in February and imposes a compulsory vaccination: "We don't want a fifth wave, we don't want a sixth and seventh wave." Public life is to be shut down for a maximum of 20 days.

By December 13th at the latest, there should be no lockdown for those who have been vaccinated or recovered, said Schallenberg.

In addition, a general vaccination against the coronavirus should come from February.

Enlarge image

Getreidegasse in Salzburg (archive image from January of this year)

Photo:

Barbara Gindl / dpa

In Bavaria and Saxony, the corona incidence numbers are similarly high as in Austria. Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer had already announced a »breakwater« yesterday. He tried to avoid the word "lockdown" elegantly. Markus Söder was less squeamish today when he announced: Clubs and bars in the Free State will be closed, Christmas markets will not take place: In Corona hotspots with a seven-day incidence of more than 1000, public life should be in large areas, as in Austria shut down. There will be exceptions for daycare centers, schools and retailers.

There should be a "de facto lockdown" for unvaccinated people in Bavaria, said Söder. This is achieved through the nationwide 2G rule. There will also be contact restrictions for unvaccinated people. These can meet with a maximum of five people from two households.

By the way, while I am writing this text, I am sitting on the ICE from Berlin to Munich, which has not moved in Leipzig for half an hour because of a police operation.

Two women on the train refuse to wear masks.

Even with the police officers who had been summoned, they wanted to have a quiet discussion instead of getting up and leaving.

It's good that the Bundestag passed 3G rules for buses and trains yesterday.

The Federal Council approved the new infection protection law in the morning without the originally announced blockade.

That, too, is good news, of which there doesn't seem to be that much at the moment.

  • Read the latest developments in our news blog here

2. No more fun

In Portugal and Spain there are now hardly any people left to be vaccinated.

Both countries are way ahead in the international comparison of vaccination rates, writes my colleague from the SPIEGEL foreign department Anna-Sophie Schneider in her story on the question of why other countries are more successful in fighting pandemics.

“Thanks to these vaccination quotas, there was no debate about compulsory vaccination or 3G rules.

Behind this is trust, a high sense of responsibility and a tightly organized vaccination campaign. "

Read the full issue here

In Germany, on the other hand, the lifeguards in hospitals are reaching their limits: "We are already in the middle of the next nightmare" is the SPIEGEL title this week. It is a quote from the reports from the Corona Front that a large team of SPIEGEL editors collected in the intensive care units in this country. Some describe their frustration with the wave of unvaccinated people and the fear of a deadly pandemic winter in which they can no longer adequately care for all patients. The others are in psychotherapeutic treatment or have already turned their backs on their jobs.

Precisely because the situation seems so bitter and so hopeless, I would like to take this opportunity to recommend the wonderful satirical column »Seen in this way« by my colleague Stefan Kuzmany from the current SPIEGEL magazine, who calls for more private corona research:

»Now urgent research is needed: Can Covid be tackled with a combination of soft drinks and chewing candy if you shake the bottle vigorously?

Couldn't a commercial pipe cleaner also clean the body?

Has anyone tried a gasoline bath?

Why has the secret healing power of the mixture of toenails cut under the full moon and the fruit of the baobab tree been ignored by conventional medicine for so long?

And simply asked: does heroin help?

There are no limits to trial and error because we are all science, and science is known to be free.

But be careful: Stay away from the corona vaccines of the pharmaceutical industry!

They are really far too little researched. "

  • Read the full comment here: We are science

3. Spectacular skeleton

The traffic light parties have agreed to legalize cannabis for consumption purposes.

So far, the intoxicant may only be traded and sold for medical purposes in Germany.

Anyone who has puffed a joint or eaten a THC gummy bear in their lifetime knows that the following message would make a good topic of conversation in a cheerful high group: A new, toothless but carnivorous dinosaur species has been discovered in Brazil and named after a feminist.

Enlarge image

Dinosaur Berthasaura leopoldinae (drawing)

Photo:

Maurilio Oliveira / Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

“It fits,” commented the person sitting next to me on the ICE, snappy, but also a little amused.

Incidentally, he is a mint tea drinker and in any case not noticeably intoxicated.

Berthasaura leopoldinae, or »Bertha« for short, belongs to the T-Rex family.

The fossilized skeleton of Berthasaura leopoldinae was found during excavations on a country road in the southern state of Paraná.

The dinosaur was only three feet long and lived 70 to 80 million years ago.

Name godmothers are Bertha Lutz, a Brazilian researcher and women's rights activist, and Maria Leopoldine, a Brazilian empress and supporter of the natural sciences from the 19th century.

  • Read the full story here: New species of dinosaur discovered in Brazil

(Would you like to receive the »Situation in the evening« conveniently in your inbox by email? Here you can order the daily briefing as a newsletter.)

What else is important today.

  • Researcher finds patient zero - and proves errors to the WHO:

    A saleswoman from the animal market in Wuhan was the first corona patient, according to a study.

    The new evidence suggests that the pandemic actually began there.

  • The Federal

    Returning Officer objects

    to the election result:

    Election Sunday was a single series of breakdowns in Berlin.

    Federal Returning Officer Georg Thiel has now raised an objection to the result of the vote.

    Did the chaos affect the distribution of mandates?

  • US House of Representatives resolves Biden's billion dollar investment package:

    Joe Biden's investment package for social and climate issues passed the House of Representatives with a narrow majority.

    Next hurdle: the US Senate.

  • “Gorch Fock” sets off for the Canary Islands:

    The general overhaul of the “Gorch Fock” cost 135 million euros.

    Now the sailing training ship was able to start another trip abroad from Kiel - it will be more comfortable for the crew on board.

My favorite story today: families in crisis

"Why is politics ignoring us?" Asks parent columnist Jens Radü in his small but fine angry speech today.

Getting through the winter without infection?

Almost a lottery win for families with small children.

"Unfortunately, it is far more improbable," writes Jens, who would like to have corona protection for Elisa, 3, Oliver, 8, and Frederik, 10.

"We have a vaccination crisis - and I have a patience crisis."

Enlarge image

Schoolchild with mask (symbolic image)

Photo:

myriam tirler / plainpicture

In the discussion about unvaccinated people, which is more and more outraged during the week, children - business as usual - fall behind faster than on the playground swing, says Jens.

»2G, preferably in the whole country, an outstanding idea, with the current incidences that will only be the beginning anyway.

But what good does that do if these 9.2 million small German citizens don't even have a chance of being turned away at the vaccination centers that hardly exist? «

After all, the approval of the European Medicines Agency Ema could come next week.

Then, however, the recommendation from Stiko is still missing.

"It shouldn't be a lonely Christmas," said Angela Merkel last year.

"A Christmas without quarantine would be enough for me this year," says Jens.

Read the whole column here.

What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +

  • Where is Peng Shuai?

    The Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has publicly settled with a top politician.

    They had a relationship in which there was also assault.

    The case shows why #MeToo is having such a hard time in China.

  • The AfD, the more Corona:

    Where the AfD is strong

    , the corona virus

    multiplies rapidly.

    An accident?

    Researchers have examined the phenomenon more closely - and are surprised by the results themselves.

  • "2G will not be enough":

    The incidence is climbing relentlessly.

    Modeler Dirk Brockmann outlines how things could continue and explains whether we need a shutdown.

    He sees a catastrophe rolling towards society.

  • How the Kabila clan plundered Congo's treasury:

    It is the biggest data leak in the history of Africa: Research by SPIEGEL and its international partners reveal how the family of ex-President Kabila has collected at least $ 138 million in government money over the years.

  • Where the unemployed of the corona crisis found new jobs:

    restaurants and shops were closed for months during the pandemic.

    Where did the employees end up who became unemployed during this period?

    Labor market researchers have now examined this.

Which is less important today

  • Finally things are looking up again.

    The Zugspitze was the first ski area in Germany to start the winter season today.

    The start after the one and a half year break caused by Corona attracted numerous winter sports enthusiasts to Germany's highest ski area on Friday.

    The first were already there at 7.30 a.m., after all, a good hundred people were waiting for the first ascent.

Typo of the day

, corrected in the meantime: "With the courage to adopt resolute policies, France got its vaccination campaign pregnant"

Cartoon of the day:

Lockdown for the unvaccinated

And on the weekend?

If you don't want to miss the »greatest pop cultural moment of the year«, as my colleague from the SPIEGEL cultural department Andreas Borcholte writes, then listen to Adele's new album (read the review here).

"You can let yourself fall into this sentimental music, like in a bathtub full of foam," writes Andreas.

The album "30" is big, old-fashioned entertainment that appeals to the desire for analogue warmth and touchability.

"Be lenient with me," says Adele, for example, in the album's first single, "Easy on Me," a piano ballad that broke streaming records within a day after its release.

As with any good pop music, the song transcends, says Andreas, and becomes a meme.

"Go easy on me", that hits a nerve in the late phase of Corona, "it includes what Health Minister Jens Spahn said when he said in spring 2020 that we will probably have to forgive each other a lot in a few months."

A lovely evening.

Sincerely,


Anna Clauss

Here you can order the "Lage am Abend" by email.

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-11-19

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