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The State of Things in good ol' Here.
We're still getting very high numbers, and they are still deemed "not reliable" due to the holidays and weekends. Though we're two weeks into the new year, there were the Christmas holidays, then there was a sunday, then New Year (which is a bank holiday here), then right after it the weekend, then two theoretically normal workdays followed by a bank holiday at Epiphany, then two workdays, then the weekend. All this means we're actually in the first full, normal work week since Christmas right now, and according to some of the communications coming from the RKI (Germany's centre for the Numbers of Doom), there's still some catching up being done. Plus there was less testing over the past few weeks, with a very high positive rate in the tests done.
All of this means we have no clue how things stand. Apart from, obviously, not being very good. There's more than a thousand deaths daily these days, and some regions have 7-day incidence counts of more than 500. There's less home officing than in the spring lockdown, though, which may play a part in numbers not falling, along with (of course) anything pandemic-spready done during Xmas and New Year.
At least vaccination has started, and of course there's a lot of bitching about this or that not working right, or it all not going fast enough, or whatever. We're in Germany, after all, where complaining is an art form and must always be done if there is any possibility at all. Me and the Most Patient Husband of Them All are in the last of the six priority tiers that Germany has; my gran, on the other hand, with her scant 99 years of age, has gotten her first shot last Saturday, while my dad (who technically is also in tier 1) with his 80 years was still "too young" and has to wait a bit longer. It would have been more efficient (and, if you ask me, more sensible) to give both of them and my Mum their shots at the same time, since it's one household and my mum takes care of my gran (theoretically lifting her into tier 1 even though age-wise she's tier 2), but they seem to do things strictly by age in their district. Which may not be the smartest or most efficient thing, but at least it's making the decisions on who gets the shots at what time easier, and hard to argue with if you're younger and thus have to wait a bit.
And now I've complained enough to prove that yes, I'm a German! Because at least things are rolling, and people are getting shots, and the politicians are thinking about what to do if the current restrictions do not cut the cheese. Case in point: Bavaria's head-of-substate Söder, who has decreed that FFP2-masks are compulsory when in shops and public transport in Bavaria, starting on Monday. That came out yesterday (or was it day before yesterday?) - so it's fairly short notice, and these masks are not really cheap (somewhere between 1,50 and 5 €, or so). There's been a lot of talk about this, and lots of complaints. Nobody knows whether it will make a dint in the numbers yet - but that's the thing: We're running out of "soft" options, and out of some of the harder ones too. Schools are already closed. Businesses (apart from retail of non-essential stuff) are still open; closing all those down is one of the really hard options left. More home office would be a thing, and it's in the talks. Some hotspots get restricted to a 15 km radius of movement, measured from the settlement's limits (which is still a very, very large area). But otherwise? There's not too much left, so exploring whether better personal protection helps is, I think, not the most stupid of actions.
Here's hoping it will help, and that numbers will get lower soon.
Comments 4
It´s pretty much the same here in Austria. Some things getting done - others not getting done -a lot of bitching and a lot of confused people.
As for FFP2-masks: I´v been wearing one since March. They are not THAT hard to get AND - if you get a good quality one - you can use it more than once by sterilizing it in between. Dunk it in boiling water for a minute or two. Works for me.
Yes, bitching and confused people can be found here everywhere, too!
Regarding the FFP2 masks - they are not hard to get anymore, except when about everyone in Bavaria tries to stock up at once, and before Monday! Yes, they do protect better if they fit properly, but on my small face, I have problems with that. I've used mine before when venturing into potentially more virusy environments, or when meeting the parents was in the foreseeable future.
Regarding the reuse: Recommendations here are not to boil or wash the masks, but instead let them dry out and, to reduce virus count on them, either let them hang for 7 days before re-using or bake in the oven at 80°C for an hour. Not more than 90°C, not less than 70°C, because of possible damage to the filter (which apparently dies a final death at just above 100°C).
Re-use is recommended not to be done more than 5-6 times, with a total wear time that should not exceed 8, 12, or 20 hours, depending on whom you ask. Confusion again!
In this house, we started off with ffp2 and ffp3 masks, but the only available ones were so large that I couldn't be heard to give consent at medical appointments and they didn't fit in the machines at optometry appointments, so we were asked firmly to stop using them. We're now using flimsy cloth ones- it's anyone's guess as to what rating they are beyond "better than nothing" and "legal".
When I visited the mini supermarket this week, four maskless people came in separately behind me and when politely reminded by the staff to wear masks absolutely kicked off with lies and entitlement. Their mindset was that as they don't work in healthcare and have not personally lost someone, and don't personally know anyone who has, the whole thing isn't as bad as reportedand doesn't apply to them. The rest of us know that pandemics don't work like that.