Germany moves to Level 4 for US citizens - very high risk

[notamermaid]

@rcaruso You are back. Time flies, thought about you a couple of days before you posted. Quite an adventurous trip. I am glad you were able to enjoy it to some extent.

 

Hotels and restaurants are suffering everywhere here. It was only today lunchtime that a couple left the restaurant where I was getting a takeaway because they had no additional test on top of being fully vaccinated. You can sit outside in the cold, but not indoors. Quite understandably they did not want to sit in six degrees with the food getting cold in two minutes...

 

The idea may be to keep us safe, but it feels quite ridiculous at times.

 

notamermaid

 

[rcaruso]

Just now, notamermaid said:

@rcaruso You are back. Time flies, thought about you a couple of days before you posted. Quite an adventurous trip. I am glad you were able to enjoy it to some extent.

 

Hotels and restaurants are suffering everywhere here. It was only today lunchtime that a couple left the restaurant where I was getting a takeaway because they had no additional test on top of being fully vaccinated. You can sit outside in the cold, but not indoors. Quite understandably they did not want to sit in six degrees with the food getting cold in two minutes...

 

The idea may be to keep us safe, but it feels quite ridiculous at times.

 

notamermaid

 

The thing is, the rules kept changing each week and the numbers too.  Always in back of our minds was "What if we test positive?" Well we kept masked, followed rules and took tests, quite a lot for a carefree vacation.  We did get invited to a wedding in Karlstadt in June and hope to go.  Numbers going up here too.  Merry Christmas, let's try and enjoy what we have at our homes and stay safe.

[notamermaid]

19 minutes ago, rcaruso said:

Merry Christmas, let's try and enjoy what we have at our homes and stay safe.

Invitation to wedding, lovely. Hope you can go.

 

The words of Bruce Springsteen in "Cover me" keep coming into my head. "The times are tough now, just getting tougher" ... "Turn out the light, bolt the door, I ain't going out there no more"

I am nearly ready for that.

 

Stay safe and

Merry Christmas

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Canal archive]

Okay words of wisdom from my 10 year old grandson who has just been diagnosed with covid and all of his year have been sent home from school. On his weekly FaceTime with grandad, he said school work from home again sucks I tested positive but I feel fine so do my friends we’ve been talking all day.

[notamermaid]

@Canal archive All the best to the young man. Kids are usually fine, yes, so I understand his mostly being bored. A situation in which all this modern technology is a great tool for the young.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

In Lower Saxony you can now go and buy a kitchen unit again, if you are unvaccinated. Sounds weird, dystopian? It is true. Our strange life continues in this country of mine. A court ruling in the state made the headlines as it had declared the 2G rule (vaccinated or recovered) in non-essential shops is unconstitutional and does not aid the state in reducing the Coronavirus infections in a reasonable manner ((my wonky translation)). So everyone can use DIY shops etc. again.

 

Now, I doubt this will be of significance to river cruisers here on CC as the standard rivers and canals do not flow through Lower Saxony. The question is: will other states have the federal regulation overruled as well? It highlights the patchwork and differences in our states that river cruisers need to look at. In my state the regulations will most likely stay the same until 2 January (most of the being federal rules anyway). Incredibly, the Christmas market in Cologne is still on.

 

The mood is not brilliant, citizens are beginning to spy on other citizens in public. Happened to me and the lady at the fast food stall. Be prepared to be looked at in wonder in detail if you happen to be overwhelmed by the ever changing rules and people demanding to see your vaccine certificate, etc.

 

The infection rate is relatively steady but high. Again, the states vary in that quite a bit.

 

I imagine none of you will be coming on the few river cruises that are happening between 4 January and 10 March, but I will say it anyway. It looks likely to continue to be a very restricted holiday experience.

 

Who knows, you may (and the locals) have to be triple vaccinated before we can enjoy restaurants again at all, currently it is triple without a test or double with a test. I imagine (not very hard to) quadruple will come some time next year...

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Canal archive]

Thank you Notamermaid he and his friends are rolling with it, I must admit to being super impressed how they are keeping in touch and supporting each other. This new strain does seem to be racing across the world but fingers crossed so far not causing as much problem as the previous strain. Keep well all.

[Wings55]

On 12/15/2021 at 3:58 PM, rcaruso said:

....  Numbers going up here too.  Merry Christmas, let's try and enjoy what we have at our homes and stay safe.

Yes indeed, let's all try to find the good news among the sad. And Merry Christmas to you too from next door in McKinney!

Paul

[notamermaid]

The situation is at least stable, one may even call it a little better, seeing that the incidence rate has fallen. On the up are marches and demonstrations against a vaccine mandate, but so far I have not read about large protests that would disrupt life/holidays and endanger tourists.

 

With the Omicron variant causing a frenzy in the news (at least that what it sounds to me) and the situation worsening in the UK and the Netherlands going into a lock down over Christmas and into January, we cannot be certain that life will remain as it is now in Germany. We may yet see a move to even tighter restrictions in Germany. Who knows.

 

Some Christmas markets are still on and the hospitality industry is still running, i.e. hotels and restaurants, etc. are generally open (depending on state and municipality).

 

notamermaid

 

[KBs mum]

In the UK our politicians and some of the media are in a flap, the population are generally relaxed about it all. We have greatly increased the amount of testing, and more people are getting PCRs done, hence finding the Omicron cases. The vast majority of cases are still delta. 

Cases are up, but hospitalizations are holding level, the vaccines so far seem to be doing their job and protecting from illness if you do happen to get it. Below is a pic of Fridays figures from a reliable newspaper

 

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

So where do we stand in Germany? Compared to the UK we have far fewer cases of Omikron still, most states are still dominated by Delta. Through January, hopefully this will change. As we have statistically seen so far also in Germany, Omikron is milder. Many people that are fully vaccinated have got quite ill so the booster has been much recommended and even advertised in my local supermarket. A bit "big brother creepy". All measures that you already know remain in place and have got tighter as regards private gatherings. Louder have become the voices that prefer fewer restrictions. People take strolls - an invention that has come from Eastern German states - in the hundreds to thousands or even just a handful rather than stand somewhere and protest.

 

On New Year's Eve, Koblenz was a major centre of the protests, so if you happened to be on a river cruise docking in Koblenz you would have seen the crowds around "Deutsches Eck". The idea is a peaceful one, just to make your presence seen and your voices heard. The river cruise season is basically over but if you came on a land trip I would say the protests should not deter you or get in your way of enjoyment as a tourist. Protests in Amsterdam right now are more violent than anywhere I have seen in Germany so far. Although footage from Munich is a bit worrying.

 

Looking towards the start of the season in March we can only guess what will be. Some people including me expect protests to get stronger if government measures continue to be stringent. I expect Omikron to keep us busy for a long time here and that March will not see any kind of normality. Vaccine certificates are likely to remain a necessary item to carry around with you all the time if you want to do touristy things, like restaurant visits.

 

As of now, the CDC still has Germany on the Level 4 list. Germany has downgraded the UK from the variant of concern list, so travel from the UK to Germany has become easier since 4 January.

 

Life as a local is a bit absurd, the rules are bordering on the ridiculous and people are getting more and more frustrated. If you come as a tourist in the near future, you may come across the odd grumpy face. You may want to avoid large city centres on Monday evenings so as not to get roped in with those flouting Covid rules when walking in a group if that prospect makes you nervous. Other than that life is calm I find. Oh, but the river levels are rising as there is much rain. Snow is coming in the next few days so the landscape in the hills in my state will have a dusting of white, other mountain ranges that are higher will get a bit more.

 

So much for today. Let us hope later days in January and February bring better news.

 

notamermaid

 

[sharkster77]

Omicron's MO is to infect many people very quickly with less mild symptoms, so my hope here in the US is that by spring, omicron continues to be the dominant strain, giving the unvaxxed some immunity by way of infecting them.  It seems to burn through a population, then slow down, as it runs out of people to infect---isn't that what South Africa is finding out?

 

  If COVID follows what the Spanish Flu did, it would become more infectious but less severe (symptoms-wise).  This may be our way back to semi-normalcy--get our yearly flu/COVID vaccine?

[gnome12]

I knew only one person who got covid in the early stages of the pandemic. Now, with Omicron, many people I know have been getting it (including me, presumably, since unless you are in a few specific groups you can't get a test right now). The problem is that, although generally milder, a LOT more people are getting it, and even if only a small number of them get sick enough to require hospitalization it is already wreaking havoc with our medical care system.

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, gnome12 said:

Now, with Omicron, many people I know have been getting it (including me, presumably, since unless you are in a few specific groups you can't get a test right now).

Are you doing okay?

 

notamermaid

 

[gnome12]

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Are you doing okay?

 

notamermaid

 

I had a couple of days of flu type body aches, now just a bit of a stuffed nose. I am fully vaccinated with a booster so not too bad. 

Edited January 7, 2022 by gnome12

[Coral]

5 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I knew only one person who got covid in the early stages of the pandemic. Now, with Omicron, many people I know have been getting it (including me, presumably, since unless you are in a few specific groups you can't get a test right now). The problem is that, although generally milder, a LOT more people are getting it, and even if only a small number of them get sick enough to require hospitalization it is already wreaking havoc with our medical care system.

Oh no - I am sorry! I hope it stays mild!

 

They are testing everyone at work this next week (students, staff, faculty). We all need PCR tests. This should be interesting.

 

My county just set an all time high record. I know a lot of people who have it also.

[notamermaid]

13 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I had a couple of days of flu type body aches, now just a bit of a stuffed nose. I am fully vaccinated with a booster so not too bad. 

Oh, good. All the best. Hope you can venture out into the sunlight, the little there is in January. Had a great short country walk on 2 January to get rid of the effects of feasting and stress at work and will try and continue to do these walks.

 

20 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

It seems to burn through a population, then slow down, as it runs out of people to infect---isn't that what South Africa is finding out?

Yes, the fellow seems to have learnt in a way that is relatively good for the host. Sadly, not good enough yet, but the findings in South Africa appear to be very similar in Europe as well. Latest statistics are encouraging. Will come back to that another day.

 

13 hours ago, Coral said:

They are testing everyone at work this next week (students, staff, faculty). We all need PCR tests. This should be interesting.

 

Testing strategy is very strong in quantity and testing centres are in abundance (apart from very rural areas). I have to have head a test before returning to work after a week's absence. I think this is standard, it was in Autumn/Winter, not sure about new regulations since 1 January. Testing has much increased since it has become clear that the fully vaccinated untested population have contributed much to spread with "breakthrough" infections. As I mentioned before, the booster is much encouraged and many people have already taken that option.

 

notamermaid

 

[scottjeanne]

Any news on the Passion Play in Oberammergau?  We have tickets for July and hope it is a go, but having thousands of people in one place seems risky at this point.

[notamermaid]

46 minutes ago, scottjeanne said:

Any news on the Passion Play in Oberammergau?  We have tickets for July and hope it is a go, but having thousands of people in one place seems risky at this point.

Oh, that is a very good question. So I checked and there is - in still fitting words at the end of the Christmas season - "Frohe Kunde": Good tidings from Oberammergau in the form of a press release. The participating village folk with speaking roles met yesterday on Epiphany for the first reading of the play texts. In German: https://www.passionsspiele-oberammergau.de/de/news/detail/4ce0d028-6ef8-11ec-94fd-0242ac1b0010

 

By the way, a ticket selling travel operator has gone into administration. Just in case this may apply to you or someone you know, here is the link: https://www.passionsspiele-oberammergau.de/de/news/detail/81457ad3-50f9-11ec-a644-0242ac1b0010

 

Odd news about a big event is coming from Munich. They are contemplating bringing the Oktoberfest forward into Summer! As you may expect there is much criticism of such an idea. But I am not familiar with details of the discussion.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Coral]

10 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Testing strategy is very strong in quantity and testing centres are in abundance (apart from very rural areas). I have to have head a test before returning to work after a week's absence. I think this is standard, it was in Autumn/Winter, not sure about new regulations since 1 January. Testing has much increased since it has become clear that the fully vaccinated untested population have contributed much to spread with "breakthrough" infections. As I mentioned before, the booster is much encouraged and many people have already taken that option.

 

Testing is very difficult here! My employer is but all of our local public locations are all booked up and our COVID cases per day are record breaking. Our drive through locations are taking 4+ hours.

[notamermaid]

@Coral That is so bad. We have queues here, but they tend to be short, depending on daytime. I chose a favourable time slot online, booked it and waited less than 10 minutes at the counter where my papers were checked. I have waited longer in the past but never more than an hour. I live relatively urban, so testing centres are near and in good numbers. Anyone coming to the tourist areas and large rivers should have no problems finding centres. This is the rapid antigen test of course. But PCR tests are done at centres, too. One should check beforehand, not sure if every centre can do it at short notice. Still, it sounds as if Germany has the testing system running better than the US right now, I have also heard that about Florida and its governor buying tests because of problems.

 

Not sure what my neighbouring countries are doing right now, but tests must be easily available as they also rely on testing for public life working, i.e. "3G" in restaurants and on trains for example, so not just for the symptomatic and international travel.

 

What a mess this all is. I overheard two ladies in town yesterday, talking about a new set of regulations coming out for my state (again!). I expect to find a new email detailing it all when I next go to work. Thinking about that mountain hut in the Vosges mountains again.

 

notamermaid

 

[Coral]

5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

@Coral That is so bad. We have queues here, but they tend to be short, depending on daytime. I chose a favourable time slot online, booked it and waited less than 10 minutes at the counter where my papers were checked.

 

I think with the wave of omicron, record setting of cases and people gathering and wanting to be tested - it has overwhelmed out testing site. 

 

We had one site in my town of 300,000 that was paid for by the state. The next largest  town had one also. The state stopped paying for it in July. They came back and re-opened under their original lab name. I had no problems getting tested there for my trip Dec 18th. I had to test on a weekend and couldn't test at work on a weekend.

 

Now, the lines are 4 hours long even if you have an appt (it is a drive through) and they have had to close due to cold temps (they are outside in tents). It has been -5 F (-20 C). Some of our pharmacies are testing but they can't do the volume - they schedule 1 every 15 minutes through the pharmacy drive through but it is impossible to get appointments and they simply can't do any volume. Even the at home tests are gone from stores now. One can go to an urgent care center or doctor's office but you are paying the cost of a visit and test - when I called it was over $200 US. It is a mess.

 

My employee had an agreement with a large University and we are testing everyone yesterday and next week. So I did my test yesterday. Even those lines got really large and next week will be much larger trying to test over 2000 people right now. So I am lucky that I could get this as my friends are struggling to get tested. My friends who think they have COVID are just staying home as opposed to getting tested.

 

Our state needs to take testing seriously. I know I am not the only US state who is having problems and even states that do take it seriously are struggling with the rush of COVID to get those tested who want to be.

 

It doesn't help that the home tests are not doing well with omicron.

[notamermaid]

On 1/8/2022 at 9:39 AM, notamermaid said:

But PCR tests are done at centres, too. One should check beforehand, not sure if every centre can do it at short notice.

Having two centres within walking distance I checked and only one of them does PCR tests. You can also book them at pharmacies but waiting times appear to be longer if you want to get such a test done also because demand here has increased. The queue at the testing centre suggested to me (rough estimate) a waiting time of one hour to one and a half hours.

 

To statistics - you will need to check details yourselves as I cannot remember all sources and all details - of the Omicron variant. I have read and heard of reductions in severity compared to Delta of one to two thirds depending on what you look at, the best I have heard yet is a 75 percent reduction in deaths. So, overall, whether or not this is all perfect mathematics, Omicron is a step in the right direction. It has also been established that the severity for unvaccinated people is less than for Delta. Really good news.

 

Big questions are: how will regulations change? How to go forward as a travel operator? As a tourist?

 

In Germany I do not expect things to change quickly. 1. We still have tons of Delta - but this could change in real life as well as statistically with the return to school after the Christmas period and the comprehensive testing that is going on among school age children. 2. Our government "enjoys" keeping a lid on infections and life.

 

In effect, this also appears to mean you are safer staying in the UK or US if you prefer to get infected by Omicron rather than Delta, but statistically safer from an infection per se when you are in Germany. However, travelling by plane across countries and continents has its own risk dynamics as the Antarctic Expedition found out. A fascinating story.

 

In a reversal of my mindset so far, I do not mind Germany having lifted some restrictions on travellers from the UK. Normally I prefer to not have tourists contributing to our virus load. But people bringing a few cases of Omicron (somewhat inevitable despite testing - see the Expedition) rather than Delta will be good for Germany in the long run.

 

Denmark has already publicly announced that they see Omicron as their way out of the pandemic - the country has a very high vaccination rate. But we have learnt that this is not enough as countries like Portugal have an even higher rate but had rising cases. Iceland said already four months ago that natural immunity is needed on top of vaccination. So, with booster shots and less severity of the Omicron variant Europe may be in a reasonably acceptable (health) shape come Spring. I am in a positive mood as regards that, but not overly optimistic. I know we will not have normal life but with people embracing more outdoor activities again come late March, we should also see a natural reduction in spread. How all this will play together - Spring temperatures, vaccines, rules and regulations - will be fascinating to find out.

 

notamermaid

 

[scottjeanne]

On 1/7/2022 at 11:48 AM, notamermaid said:

Oh, that is a very good question. So I checked and there is - in still fitting words at the end of the Christmas season - "Frohe Kunde": Good tidings from Oberammergau in the form of a press release. The participating village folk with speaking roles met yesterday on Epiphany for the first reading of the play texts. In German: https://www.passionsspiele-oberammergau.de/de/news/detail/4ce0d028-6ef8-11ec-94fd-0242ac1b0010

 

By the way, a ticket selling travel operator has gone into administration. Just in case this may apply to you or someone you know, here is the link: https://www.passionsspiele-oberammergau.de/de/news/detail/81457ad3-50f9-11ec-a644-0242ac1b0010

 

Odd news about a big event is coming from Munich. They are contemplating bringing the Oktoberfest forward into Summer! As you may expect there is much criticism of such an idea. But I am not familiar with details of the discussion.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Thank you so much for the information on the Passion Play.  I think I am one of the ones who booked with this company.  Now I am not sure if I have reservations or not. What a mess.  Thanks for the heads up.

[Canal archive]

Covid-19: Common cold may give some protection, study suggests https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59911257
 

Here is an interesting take on the subject so will everyone be trying to boost their T cell count or saying oh please can I catch your cold? On the other hand it’s worth keeping an eye on the subject.