We’ve been in Munich for more than a month now, and I want to share some of my observations of life under corona here versus in Virginia.

The entire time we’ve been here Germany has been under lockdown — restaurants takeout only and essential retail open (narrowly defined!). EVERYTHING else closed, schools included. Medical-grade masks mandated in retail and public transport. This is done at the federal level.

The primary measure of “success” is the 7 day average case rate per 100k people. Looking at this number daily has become ingrained in me. The city posts it on Instagram, it’s on billboards in the subway. The government has consistently said getting below 50 is the goal.

Having that clearly communicated really appeals to my OCD brain. Each day we inch down I'm like - YES!

Here’s a chart of Munich specifically. You can see how much cases have dropped since the start of the year. Above 200 had additional restrictions. Then the goal was 50, recently federal government lowered goal to 35. Comes from city website >>
https://www.muenchen.de/aktuell/2020-03/coronavirus-muenchen-infektion-aktueller-stand.html

The data is from the Robert Koch Institute, a federal government agency responsible for research and disease control and prevention. They publish daily reports and dashboards. (Yes, in English and German) >>
https://www.rki.de/EN/Home/homepage.html

Now that numbers have significantly dropped, the federal government is allowing states to choose whether to open schools and daycares again. HOWEVER, nothing else yet. In person (even outside) dining, gyms, unessential retail all still closed.

Final note: Interestingly percent positivity — a measurement officials frequently point to in Virginia — is not widely publicized here. It took a bit more digging but I did find it for Germany as a whole: around 9-percent.