By George Hartley
Amid the escalating COVID-19 outbreak in Europe, the German Health Ministry reported almost 60 confirmed cases, some of whom caught the virus in Germany rather than elsewhere. The tourism industry in particular is bracing for travel bans and significant losses, particularly in the popular Black Forest region in Baden-Württemberg, should the virus reach pandemic proportions in Europe. Authorities are attempting to trace the source of a case in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German state, fearing the victim may have spread the virus at a busy Karneval event. Elsewhere Over 30 were injured in an intentional attack on a Karneval parade on Monday in Volksmaren, Hesse. The CDU crisis continues, with more campaigns launched for the CDU leadership since the resignation announcement of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Focus described Health Minister Jens Spahn as a double crisis manager of both the Coronavirus and CDU crises. Membership of the Greens has grown dramatically by 28% in the past year according to the party’s own figures. Nearly 40% of new members are 16-35 years old and 41% are women. Al Jazeera commented that racism is ‘becoming more mainstream’ in Germany following the recent AfD successes and string of racially-motivated attacks.
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