Corona in Freiburg

Slowly, I get the nomenclature of the Coronavirus right. SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) is the name of the virus. As for number one, we had an outbreak known as SARS in China and, on a smaller scale, around the globe in 2002/2003. COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) is the name of the disease; the first cases were observed in December 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

At present, SARS-CoV-2 is spreading in South Baden. There are eleven diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in Freiburg and eleven in its surroundings. What counts more is that, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), neighboring South Alsace is now a risk area. Thousands of people from France working in southern Baden and Basel cross the Rhine River daily.

Yesterday, Freiburg's crisis unit called off all public and private events with more than 1000 people until March 31. Last night, a pop concert was canceled on short notice. The SC Freiburg will play soccer at an empty Dreisam stadium as a" ghost game," and the popular Freiburg marathon with record participation this year is called off.

However, Freiburg's municipal theater, with "only" 860 seats, will continue to perform, although yesterday, Red Baron could not buy a ticket and only got a reservation for Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" on March 22. I shall be informed by email in due time whether the virus is sufficiently tame by then to allow the performance of "Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung."


Berlin's RKI provides daily updates on the spread of the disease in Germany, recommends measures to be taken, and reports new scientific findings. All actions proposed and taken aim to slow the spread of the pandemic so our hospitals do not become overloaded.

I learned that the endless discussions about the mortality rate of Covid-19 (3% or 0.3%?) are pointless at this time because the basis for the statistics is ill-defined. Some - primarily children and young people - show only mild or no symptoms when infected and are not counted. Undetected, these people are likely to spread the virus further without knowing. Older people catching the virus could become severely ill and develop pneumonia. This is because SARS-CoV-2 perturbs the lung's immune system, so intruding bacteria can easily infect the weakened tissue. The risk of dying from Covid-19 is more than 25% for old white men over 80. Red Baron is warned, but you may or should instead think of future American Presidents.

Professor Drosten in his lab at the Charité (©ARD)

Is there no silver lining on the horizon? Virologist Professor Christian Drosten, who developed the PCR* fragment analysis method using throat swabs, said that this diagnostic tool is 100% accurate. As a scientist, he competently and calmly discusses recent findings and developments on SARS-CoV-2 on a daily podcast.
*Polymerase Chain Reaction

Drosten was fast: "Within a week, he had produced the test."

He and his colleagues at Berlin's Charité found that the virus replicates not only in the lungs but also in the throat. They further detected the virus in high concentrations in the feces of infected persons, but those viruses are no longer contagious. Likewise, swabs taken from the lungs of recovered patients still contain the virus, but it cannot proliferate. So persons showing no longer any symptoms of Covid-19 may leave those precious hospital beds after only one week and continue their healing process at home. Meanwhile, research into effective vaccination against the virus continues in labs worldwide.

How long will the pandemic last? Inshallah.

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