Berlin is braced for heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures. Photo: Javygo / Unsplash
Lockdown debated as cases fall, vaccine deliveries give Senate hope, arrests after Schöneberg blast
City and federal politicians are debating a relaxation of the lockdown as Berlin’s daily Covid-19 case numbers continue to fall. While mayor Michael Müller warned of “premature” plans to relax the rules, interior senator Andreas Geisel indicated that the city would seek to reopen schools and nurseries as soon as February 15. “Retail, restaurants, hotels would follow,” Geisel told the DPA on Thursday. However the federal government is said to be in favour of extending current measures by at least a fortnight, setting the scene for a showdown when Angela Merkel and state leaders meet for a summit on February 10. Berlin reported 352 new infections on Friday, compared to nearly 2000 daily cases in November 2020.
Berlin is hoping to speed up the rollout of Covid-19 vaccinations as it takes delivery of 267,000 more vaccine doses. The shipments will include the AstraZeneca vaccine for the first time, leading the federal government to call on state health authorities to administer all doses immediately to ensure more people can get their first dose. Previously states had been holding back doses to ensure adequate supplies for second shots. So far 150,000 people in Berlin have been vaccinated against coronavirus, 41,000 of whom have received a second dose. Just three percent of the city’s population have received a jab.
Two men were arrested on Thursday night after an improvised bomb exploded on a Schöneberg street. A special operations police (SEK) team was called to the scene when the men threw the device – reportedly a pipe bomb – out of their flat window on Eisackstraße, where it then exploded. According to the Tagesspiegel the two men were apparently making explosives in their flat and, fearing a premature explosion, threw the device onto the street. Police are now probing whether the men – who are reportedly “active” in far-left circles – have political motives.
Berliners braced for big chill, Covid-sceptic teacher reinstated
This weekend will bring ice-cold temperatures and up to 30cm of snow to Berlin as polar air from the Arctic moves across Central Europe. With gusts of up to 40 km/h predicted on Sunday temperatures in the capital could drop as low as -18 due to wind chill. Authorities are advising the public not to travel as snow drifts pose risks on the roads. The sub-zero weather is set to remain until at least the middle of next week according to forecasts.
A Berlin vocational school teacher who spread coronavirus conspiracy theories on YouTube has been allowed to return to work. Rüdiger Borrmann, a teacher of media students at a college in Wedding, was suspended for breaching "school peace" and committing "administrative offences" after videos emerged in which he cast doubts on the seriousness of the pandemic and called masks "modern swastikas". School senator Sandra Scheeres (SPD) had campaigned for the man's dismissal but RBB is reporting that he will return to work on Monday.