As of Thursday night, the officially confirmed number of Corona infections in Berlin lies at 6945.
Weekend update
- On Saturday 15,000 people took part in a demonstration at Alexanderplatz supporting the global Black Lives Matter Movement, which has taken to the streets to protest against police violence in response to the murder of George Floyd
- Demonstrators held a “silent demonstration” and were told to wear black clothes. The protestors remained silent for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, in tribute to George Floyd.
- The protest was mostly peaceful, although there were small altercations with the Berlin police. There were 93 arrests and 28 injured police officers. 800 police officers were on duty in various demonstrations throughout the city. Around 1500 protestors were officially registered, but once this number was exceeded, the police closed off streets surrounding Alexanderplatz.
- A small number of right-wing extremists from the NPD (National Democratic Party of Germany) protested at Potsdamer Platz in response to the demonstration at Alexanderplatz.
- Berlin’s Minister of the Interior Andreas Geisel (SPD) defended his decision to allow demonstrations with larger numbers of people. He emphasized that protestors should uphold and maintain social distancing guidelines “to protect oneself and others”
Friday’s news
- There have been 6963 confirmed cases in Berlin to date.
- So far, 6443 people have been declared recovered from Covid-19
- Of those infected, 3433 are male, 3527 are female. Three did not specify their gender.
- 139 people are currently in hospital as a result of the virus, 45 are in intensive care.
- The total number of casualties lies at 201, 14 of them were under 60 years of age. The average age of the deceased was 81.
- Today’s R value lies at 0.62, the number of weekly new infections per 100,000 Berliners is at 5.1, and only 3.6 percent of ICU beds are taken up by Covid-19 patients.
Berlin responds to €130bn Corona package, culture cash welcomed, new spending on sports clubs
The federal government agreed on a €130bn stimulus package yesterday to boost Germany’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis. Headline measures include:
- A cut in VAT from 19 percent to 16 percent from July 1 until December 31
- €50bn to fight climate change and support innovation and digital technology
- A €25bn loan programme for small businesses like restaurants who have faced hardship
- €1bn for cultural institutions (more on this below)
- A €300 one-off payment for every child in the country
- €10bn for local governments struggling with lower tax receipts including funds for infrastructure and housing
It is the biggest stimulus package in Germany’s history.
Berlin Finance Senator Matthias Kollatz (SPD) said he was "essentially satisfied" with the package, though the city faces a €500m cash shortfall due to the planned VAT cut, with a further loss of €200m as a result of other tax and spending changes. This hammering to the city’s budget is partly offset by other measures from the federal government, including a €390m injection to help pay for Hartz IV recipients’ housing costs.
Berlin's Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer has welcomed the €1bn ring-fenced fund for cultural institutions but says it doesn’t go far enough. "It is good that three months after the beginning of the pandemic, culture is now also being addressed by the federal government," the Die Linke politician said. "But set against the €9bn subsidy being given to an airline, this just highlights how unimportant culture is considered in comparison," Lederer added in reference to the recent bailout of Lufthansa.
Luckily for Berlin’s sports clubs, the Senat is already planning to help out. The city has assembled an €8.2m package for struggling sports societies and will start making payments within the next few days. "There have already been more than 100 applications totalling €1.5m," Landessportbundes leader Thomas Härtel told 105'5 Spreeradio today.
Renewed Black Lives Matter protest, man charged for Corona subsidy fraud, rent crunch yet to materialise
Black Lives Matter – in Berlin, too. Berliners are taking to the streets once again this weekend in a show of solidarity with Americans protesting against police violence following the killing of George Floyd last month. The demonstration, which will take place on Alexanderplatz this Saturday, is planned as a silent protest under the banner “Nein zu Rassismus”. From 2pm, at least 1500 black-clothed protesters are set to gather for the march.
A man has been charged with wrongfully claiming €27,000 in Corona subsidy funds, including from Berlin’s Investitionsbank. In April, the Saarbrücken resident applied for the financial aid – meant to help small businesses and freelancers hit by the pandemic – multiple times in regions across Germany. The suspect was arrested on May 27 and remains in custody. Want to avoid getting caught out? Check out our story from April on the rules relating to the freelance subsidy.
Most Berliners are still able to pay the rent – at least that’s according to a new survey by rbb24. A study of the city’s approximately 300,000 social housing tenants has revealed that there have been just 1157 applications for rent deferral, amounting to a total of €744,000. While the rent deferral scheme is no doubt helpful for tenants facing cash flow problems, it’s no free ride – the missed monthly rent still has to be paid in the end.
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New setback for space-starved restaurants, Kitas welcome more children, haircuts grow in price
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg has delayed the introduction of pop-up terraces for its embattled restaurants after being overwhelmed with applications. Food outlets across the city have been demanding permission to use outdoor space to boost their capacity since being allowed to open last month, as we reported yesterday. District officials for the two Kiez had agreed to streamline the process of opening up road space, but this latest delay will mean another weekend of lost revenue for gastro businesses. The go-ahead for the first restaurants is now expected next week.
All children should be able to return to the Kita in some form before the end of the month, according to the Senat’s Department for Education, Youth and Family. "The Senat is currently working on a framework so that all children will be able to attend day care on a larger scale in June," officials said in a memo sent on Thursday. Starting next Monday, a further 35,000 children between the ages of four and five and their siblings will also be able to return to day nursery.
Corona costs money – not least at the hair salon. Since opening their doors in May, many of Berlin’s hairdressers have raised their prices on account of the extra costs of doing business. Like Belinda Schmidt, owner of Charlottenburg’s "Ihr Friseur", who charges an additional €2 per cut to cover the extra costs of cleaning. "The expense of the extra hair washing and disinfection cannot be dismissed," Annett Reinke from consumer advice organisation Verbraucherzentrale Brandenburg told the Morgenpost. For many cash-strapped, long-haired Berliners this new levy will make a DIY chop a smarter choice.
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