Corona summer, part two: What is different this summer than last year? Will the rest of 2021 be completely relaxed, with the handbrake on or still come up with surprises?
Berlin (dpa) – Germany, a terrace: Perhaps there has never been so much outside – in view of the warm weather, the lower corona numbers, increasing vaccination rates and reopened cafes and restaurants.
A freshly tapped beer tastes a thousand times better in the outdoor restaurant than it did before the lockdown. But there is also a feeling of division over this summer: team loosening versus team caution, anger over loud party people on the streets instead of in clubs, the controversial European football championship, the federal election campaign, unrest.
The months since November felt like a long hibernation. Awakened, many people now seem more grateful for little things. The psychologist Simon Hahnzog also sees potential for conflict: Already in 2020 it had shown that friends, relatives and colleagues had different needs when it came to contact than you did yourself . “
The summer of 2021 could still be relaxed. Comedy star Carolin Kebekus also says: “The summer will be good.” At least the comedian sang this on her ARD show like a mantra in the pop song satire “La Vida Sin Corona” (Life without Corona) – with self-ironic objections from The skeptic Karl Lauterbach.
“Sun, beach, summer happiness, life is returning, parties in the bar and we get close” – and Lauterbach: “There is still a risk of infection.” Or: “We touch each other at full speed” – ” Which I can only strongly advise against. “
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is currently not expecting another exponential growth in the number of corona cases and a fourth wave. Virologists warn, however, that one should not believe that the virus has disappeared. Experts such as Charité virologist Christian Drosten estimate summer 2021 to be very different from summer 2020. The virus is now distributed much more regularly in the population, both geographically and in age groups.
However, the significance of the incidence changes thanks to vaccinations. Less severe courses and deaths should finally also relieve the burden on the health system. There is also the “summer effect”, which is primarily due to the lower proportion of indoor contacts and not to temperatures or UV radiation.
“The trend is to offer as much outside as possible,” says Thorsten Hellwig, spokesman for the Dehoga catering trade association in the most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The trend towards outdoor catering has become even more intense due to the corona pandemic. Germany – a wannabe Italy.
The beer gardens are open, the favorite bar has hopefully survived – and after what feels like an eternity, many see not only family and friends but also the superficial contacts again. “Got pretty chubby”, thinks some when they see the waitress from the restaurant around the corner or the gym buddy again.
Millions of people are getting used to being around people again, the lockdown memories are blurred, the fear of normal life evaporates. The so-called cave syndrome, in which people have serious problems to come to terms with the return of freedom and normalcy in public space, does not seem to be a mass phenomenon if you look around.
Nevertheless, there is a kind of powdery mildew over the republic – there is a bit of a farewell mood. National coach Joachim Löw leaves after 15 years, Chancellor Angela Merkel after 16 years. In addition, many suspect that Corona will probably change some things in the long term and that many things will never be the same as they used to be.
The question is: does this change the mood? For example, will there be more rioting in the coming weeks, as has already been the case in some cities, where the police have also been attacked?
“Culture will play an important role in dealing with the pandemic over the next few months,” says Saarland’s Minister of Culture Christine Streichert-Clivot. Some theaters such as the Schaubühne in Berlin are skipping their summer break after the long shutdown and playing through.
Meanwhile, the European Football Championship is not quite as useful as a frustration reliever, as many would have expected. The ratings have collapsed. Even the first German game against France followed a good 15 percent less than comparable tournament openers of the last decade.
The EM is on a scale that has not been seen at events for a long time due to concerns about superspreader events. Despite the hygiene concepts in the stadiums, the question “Does it have to be that there is so much travel around there haunted people?”.
The table football business seemed to be more systemically relevant all the time than, for example, acting and music as live events – even though the DFB only counted about 19 million visits for the games of the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga before Corona, while the German stage club recorded around 35 million visits to public theaters, festivals, symphony and radio orchestras alone in the last season before the outbreak of the pandemic (2018/19).
The attitude towards life in summer ’21 is perhaps very well outlined with the transition period. Last summer it was still unclear when vaccines would even be ready for the market, this summer it is eagerly awaited whether enough citizens will finally accept the vaccination offer from the state. And then also whether it will continue to be called Federal Chancellor in Berlin or, as previously, Mr.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210617-99-28744 / 3
