Germany to reopen all shops and schools in May

[PoliticAverse]

Germany will take new steps towards normalisation in May, including reopening shops and schools after weeks of shutdown imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus, according to a draft agreement seen by AFP Wednesday.

"Even after initial steps to open up were introduced from April 20, the number of new infections remained low," the document read, with "no new wave of infection" so far detected -- justifying the series of bolder reopening steps.

So far, only certain children like those soon facing exams had been allowed to return to class.

But now kindergartens and primary schools will also reopen from next week.

Read the rest at: https://www.france24.com/en/20200506-germany-to-reopen-all-shops-and-schools-in-may

[DFW]

1. We're still unsure of our travel status here

I called down to a friend in Zürich today, and he said that since he had an official job in Switzerland, he could cross the border when he liked, but his friends in Germany still can't enter Switzerland without official written justification. I still can't go to France, Belgium or Spain, although there are stirring of loosening that as well next week.

But so far, the "reopening" here only applies to domestic affairs. The situation with our neighbors is still no cross-border travel without official sanction, except for the Netherlands, which now permits cross-border travel for German and Dutch citizens. I am neither, of course, but I have a permanent residence permit for Germany. I haven't yet tried to test to see if that is good enough for the border guards.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. You're there. I read that the shops that are open are mostly empty. Is that true?

[DFW]

4. Not in my town!

There is plenty of traffic. Not wall to wall people traffic like before, but people are definitely out and about, and the farmers market that is three times a week in the center of our town (like it has been for the last 800 years) still does good business. The mobile bread bakery is always sold out by noon (nothing like getting fresh bread hot out of the oven three times a week!), and our favorite fish stand is often sold out of the kind of fish we prefer if we get there too late. There is a well-organized system of boats coming in from the North Atlantic to Hamburg, processing the fish, wholesaling it, and getting it distributed around the country by 4 or 5 AM, when the local merchants get to buy it from the wholesalers and prepare it for the farmers markets, which open sometime between 7:30 and 8 in the morning. Because of cholesterol issues, I almost never eat red meat, so access to fresh fish is important to us.

The places that are really hurting are places like the travel agencies, and stores that sell travel accessories. Hotels and restaurants, too, although the lower echelon restaurants, which always offered take-out, are still doing fine. No one can go anywhere. I called over to Washington today to ask if my wife (a German citizen) could come with me on our yearly vacation to Cape Cod. They said so far, no, but that could change. American hotels and restaurants need customers, too, after all.

I heard from friends in Sprout City and Paris that shops are still pretty empty down there, and though shops are starting to open, walk-in traffic is very slow. Of course, Sprout City and Paris depend heavily on tourist traffic and conventions, and for the moment, there isn't any. I spoke to a colleague in Zürich earlier today, and he said that unless you have papers proving that you work in Switzerland or have permanent residence there, your chances of being let in are almost zero. I checked the Swiss Air Lines website, and they said don't even bother booking if you live in a country designated by the Swiss as a dangerous area. Guess which countries those are? According to the Swiss government, "all countries except Switzerland and Liechtenstein." The Swiss were always a little wary of "other" places.

[brewens]

2. Good for them. My understanding is they had a much better response, comprehensive testing,

cooperation from intelligent citizens, everything that needed to happen to make that possible. Hopefully we can do the same without a huge new wave of infections, if we can't we're going to know why.

[DFW]

5. Comprehensive testing????? Must be some other Germany than the one here in central Europe

Here in the Germany in Europe with Berlin as its capital city, it is extremely difficult to get tested. A very few towns have better testing than most, but not ours. I tried for weeks to get tested. No chance. Either you are famous or have connections or you are dying of COVID-19 and have multiple symptoms, or you won't get tested. I tried. Like crazy I tried. I was sent on a telephone odyssey that took me to almost every listed number and government agency in Westfalia. Even Düsseldorf, our nearby state capitol, "proudly" announced that they would be testing up to 800 people a day. Great--that means that in 3 years, they'll have gotten around to everyone within the city limits (we aren't).

The question came down to "are you showing symptoms?" When I said not yet, they said, then stay home and don't bother us.