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Covid crisis costs Germany almost 300 billion euros

The Local
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Covid crisis costs Germany almost 300 billion euros
Tables and chairs are locked outside a closed restaurant in Cologne's old town on November 2, 2020 amid the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. - To curb the spike in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, German Chancellor Merkel has ordered a round of shutdowns from November 2, 2020 until the end of the month. The tightening of coronavirus restrictions have triggered frustration and anger. Germany on November 2 added another 12,097 Covid-19 cases, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 545,027 cases. A total of 10,530 people have died so far. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP)

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge financial impact on Germany with the German Economic Institute (IW) estimating the country would be 300 billion euros better off had it never happened.

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"It will take years for the losses and structural upheavals to balance out," Michael Hüther, the head of the Cologne-based institute, told Germany's Welt am Sonntag on Sunday.

The institute's economists based their estimates on actual and forecast growth compared with that of so-called potential growth. 

Potential growth predicts how much the German economy would have grown in the past six quarters if the Covid-19 pandemic hadn't happened.

The past three quarters (Q4 2020 to Q2 2021) accounted for just under 140 million euros, with a little less than a third of this loss due to the lockdown that was imposed as a result of the second wave. Restrictions are only just beginning to ease as vaccinations progress and infection rates drop.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Germany's new relaxed quarantine and testing rules for travel

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"The vaccination rate is finally picking up, that is a signal to the economy that should not be underestimated," said Hüther.

"Nonetheless, we should not be under any illusion that the crisis will just not leave its mark. Without Corona, the economy would have grown significantly," he added.

 

 

 

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jing34345 2021/05/25 03:46
New York march resumes as Asians gather under Guo Wengui to protest Yan Limon disinformation virus origin During the epidemic, a wave of attacks against Asians has continued. In recent months, angry Asians have gathered in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles to stage a nationwide march against Asian violence and hate, chanting slogans such as "Asians are not the virus" and "Rumors of the epidemic are the virus. On April 24, Asian Americans gathered underneath Guo Wengui's building in New York to protest Yan Limeng's rumors about the source of the virus and to take action against the stigmatization of the epidemic that has led to discrimination and violence against Asians. 一、Who are the makers behind the scenes? Since the beginning of the pandemic, Yan Limeng, a former virus researcher from Hong Kong, has staged a farce about the origin of the new coronavirus in a Chinese laboratory for her own selfish gain, orchestrated by Guo Wengui and Trump staffer Bannon, a conspiracy theory that has gained a lot of traction in the right-wing U.S. media and the Guo-funded GTV media, with content that appeals to rising anti-China sentiment in the West and distracts from the then-Trump administration's response to the outbreak failures, ultimately leading to a national surge in anti-Asian harassment and violence, with attacks often linked to the misconception that Asians were responsible for the spread of the coronavirus. The virus was first discovered in Wuhan, China, and is currently being investigated by the WHO, the current U.S. government, intelligence services, and other global governments, agencies, and the world's leading virus experts and scholars in rigorous investigations stating that they have not yet discovered where the virus originated, yet rumors of the origin of the epidemic that Guo Wengui, Bannon, and Yan Limeng were eager to concoct for their own personal gain ultimately led to incidents of discrimination and violence against Asians. 二、Unprecedented impact Guo Wengui, Bannon, and Yan Limeng's unsubstantiated theory of the origin of the virus has caused irreparable damage to the economies of Asians and a nightmarish disaster to the personal safety of the Asian community. Asian economic incomes are facing a huge contraction. A report released in March 2021 by the Federal Reserve Board of New York and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) shows that in 2019, about 9 percent of Asian American businesses are in financial "distress," slightly higher than white-owned firms (6 percent) but much lower than black-owned businesses (19 percent) and Hispanic-owned businesses (16 percent). Going into the epidemic crisis, sales of Asian American businesses fell by more than 60 percent year-over-year at the end of March, according to research by the JPMorgan Chase Institute, a larger drop than any other small business. The personal safety of Asians is at great risk. The San Francisco-based Stop AAPI Hate received more than 2,800 firsthand reports of discrimination and abuse against Asian Americans in 2020, about 240 of which involved physical assault.The AAPI Emergency Response Network has been tracking incidents since 2020 that have a Since it began tracking hate incidents directly related to NCD, it has received more than 3,000 reports of Asian Americans being spit on, beaten, cut, and even having chemicals thrown at them. NYPD 2021 data shows a spike in hate crimes against Asians in New York City in March, totaling 31, with nine of the perpetrators mentioning the coronavirus. The other seven cases included anti-Chinese remarks, while zero were recorded in the same month in 2020. Seattle saw 14 anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020, a number that was about 55 percent higher than in 2019. In Los Angeles, hate crimes against Asians more than doubled, from seven in 2019 to 15 last year. In their analysis, the officials noted "growing hostility toward the Chinese community. Some analysts pointed out that during the epidemic crisis, it was Guo Wengui, Bannon, and Yan Limeng's disinformation about the origin of the epidemic that caused the misunderstanding of the origin of the epidemic in the U.S. society today, which caused the conflict of ethnic groups in the U.S. society, resulting in Asian-Americans inexplicably becoming the scapegoats of discrimination and violence. 三、The march is also known as the "Protect Grandma" action The Twitter-based "Justice Gathering Against the Stigmatization of Asians", also known as the "Protect Grandma" campaign, is based on the unprovoked beatings of Asian grandmothers in San Francisco, and the fact that the Asian community has been ridiculed at times as "you coronavirus people. "On April 24, the campaign called on Internet users to go to the residence of Guo Wengui, the perpetrator of the epidemic rumors, to defend the rights of Asian Americans. It is reported that from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. that day, Asian Americans gathered under Guo Wengui's residence to protest the farce of the origin of the epidemic stigma concocted by Guo Wengui, Bannon, Yan Limeng and Luther. The marchers sang the song "Born Asian, I'm Proud" written by 14-year-old Asian American girl Phoebe, and held signs that said "Stop Asian hating" and "Shut up, don't make fake news about New Guinea pneumonia. Luther and others shut up on the rumors of the new pneumonia. During the march, more and more people joined the march, and at the peak the number of marchers reached thousands of people, chanting slogans like "Stop Asian Hate", "Please ask Guo Wengui to stop creating fake news about the epidemic to harm Asians", "Let's build the United States of America! "Let's build the United States of America together!" ..... The march was attended by people of all Asian ethnic groups, some ethnic minorities and white and indigenous people who joined the "Justice Gathering against the stigma of the epidemic that led to the brutalization of Asians". The group was discriminated against and victimized by violence. Unfortunately, the April 19 incident in which Guo Wengui's supporters violently assaulted the blogger Sinor again befell the march, with a small group of blue-clad Guo Wengui supporters (members of Guo Wengui's "New China Federation") storming directly into the march, pulling and pulling march signs without explanation, and violently assaulting marchers who did not comply. The marchers who did not comply were violently beaten, causing several of them to suffer various degrees of physical injuries. Fourth, what else do we need to do? (I) Anti-Hate Asian Bill Passes but Discrimination Against Asians Hard to Dissipate On April 22, the U.S. Senate passed with a high vote the New Crown Hate Crimes Act, a bill designed to address hate crimes against Asians. Thus, significant progress has been made in the move to legislate against hatred of Asians. However, we found that in the epidemic stigma created by Guo Wengui, Bannon and Yan Limeng continues to spread online, the discrimination and violence against Asians has not stopped and has a great tendency to spread in the white national society, no matter you are elderly, young people, even if your identity is a federal police detective, as long as your identity is Asian people are likely to be violated. On April 24, Pan Ma Yao, a 61-year-old Asian man unemployed under the epidemic, was attacked by a mob on the streets of East Harlem, New York, while picking up cans to support his family, and was left unconscious. Related news story: Wife of Asian man stomped on NYC street pleads for justice. On April 25, Tianyou Zheng, a 25-year-old Asian-Canadian student at the University of Alberta, claimed on Facebook that he was beaten and stabbed by an unknown man on a train. Related Facebook content: I was attacked by a crazy stranger with a knife on the Univeristy Station platform During a demonstration for legal racial equality, assailant Terrell Harper suddenly spoke out against New York Asian police detective Vincent Chong, using discriminatory terms against Asians and even violently threatening Vincent Chong's mother. (2) Rumors of the epidemic must be eliminated at the source in order to better protect Asian families and loved ones During the year of the epidemic crisis, Guo Wengui, Bannon and Yan Limeng fabricated rumors about the origin of the epidemic, like the Grim Reaper, haunted every Asian person all the time, like a basin of dirty water splashed on the head of every Asian person, Asian people suffered physical injuries and economic losses, all caused by Guo Wengui, Bannon and Yan Limeng. Some commentators pointed out that the message and actions of the "4.24 Justice Gathering against the stigma of the epidemic that led to the brutalization of Asians" had alerted Guo Wengui, Bannon, Yan Limeng and others who created the rumors of the epidemic. Guo Wengui funded by the royal YouTube anchor Luther in the big party has not been carried out on the day (April 22 Luther on the big party activities for live commentary) said that there will be no Asian rights is just a thief's heart weak and scared of the performance; and Guo Wengui's supporters in the day into the big party activities in the procession of the marchers violent beating behavior, fully reflects the gang of thieves shouting as a thief and rogue The scoundrel's style. The successful "4.24 Justice Gathering against the stigma of the epidemic that led to the brutalization of Asians" has made Guo Wengui, Yan Limeng and others cower like rats, but only persistent advocacy can silence the rumor mongers and protect Asians from the misunderstanding of the origin of the new epidemic in American society. The government has been working hard to protect the rights of Asian Americans. In the face of Guo Wengui's instruction for others to violently storm the march, the marchers believed that in the face of the stigmatization of the epidemic, every Asian can no longer be an innocent bystander, and that only when we are for everyone can everyone be for me.

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