Sunday, April 5, 2020

Day 21

Sunday saw the lowest new cases in Franconia since the 17th of March going from 5201 to 5478 (5.06%). The not so good news is that the number of deaths increased quite a bit, from 94 to 105. In relative terms, it is still under 2%, but that is under the national trend.

The weather was fantastic yesterday and we went out for a walk. There were a lot of people out and about, but for the most art, people were staying away from each other. Here in the countryside, it is relatively easy to maintain distance. For those people who live in urban areas, they have a harder time finding ways to get fresh air without actually coming too close to others.


Day 19 & Day 20

I skipped a day, sorry.

The weather is so beautiful, that it is very hard not to organize some kind of grill party in the backyard. But, we have to remain patient. The number of infected cases in Franconia is 5339 with 97 deaths.

The newest item that is being sold-out around Germany is: yeast. Crazy, but a lot of people are baking their own bread and rolls at home. Two weeks ago, people were going crazy over pasta and toilet paper, now this. We like to bake our own stuff once in a while too, so it doesnt hurt us that bad, but still, crazy.

Something else that shocked us on Friday. We heard a report that a police department in Berlin had placed an order to a Chinese company for masks. The police had already sent payment and were waiting for the masks. Only, the masks never showed up. Why? Because an American company offered more money for the masks and the Chinese decided to cancel the German order and deliver to the Americans instead. As the masks were in Thailand and on a plane that was to go to Germany, they were removed and put on a plane for the US. Crazy crazy crazy. I guess money does rule.

Today (which will be Day 21) I plan to check in on my bees. Cant wait to see how they have developed this week.

And, of course, we still have enough toilet paper.

Friday, April 3, 2020

Day 18

I'm slowly losing the motivaion to keep this blog going. Not a whole lot new information to report, except that it is very unsettling to watch the coronavirus numbers getting completely out of hand in the US. They have over 200K infected cases, and yesterday they reported over 1000 new deaths in one day.

Siemens Healthineers, my employer, announced that they have developed a test for COVID-19. This is good news. Get some more tests out there so that an accurate picture of this virus can be made.

Franconia has 4601 infected cases and 82 deaths.

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Day 17

There was another slight increase in the infection rate in Franconia. Now we have 4222 cases with 74 deaths. The curve was starting to look better at the beginning of the week. Germany now has 77981 cases with 931 deaths.

Heidi and I went shopping at REWE in Ebermannstadt at 6 p.m. There were hardly any other customers in the store. The shelves were full, except for toilet paper, which was the first time I had seen it empty there in that store. Maybe they hadnt stocked the shelves yet. The panic purchasing has slowed down though.

The weather is warming up everyday. I think this will have two effects. One, more people will try to get outside more. Two, the weather will help slow the curve. I know that on Saturday, when the weather was really nice, I came across a lot of people hiking. The past few days, this wasnt the case. Although it was sunny, it was still cool, so maybe people stayed at home. This weekend will be like last weekend.

Angela Merkel declared yesterday that the contact restrictions (maximum of two people) shall continue until at least after Easter. This makes sense and I think it will probably continue until at least May.