Klaus Brinkbäumer was most recently editor-in-chief of “Spiegel” and now works as an author for “Die Zeit”, among others. You can reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @Brinkbaeumer. Instead of his bullet column, he is currently writing a coronavirus diary here – with brief observations from everyday life and reflections on the corona crisis
The friend C. is a surgeon. After an operation, earlier this week, he found out that the patient had Covid-19. Of course, C. operates with a mask and gloves, but preliminary talks are also included. He writes: “I’ll get it, just like you and everyone else.”
30th floor, Bleecker Street, New York. Are we the frog in the still lukewarm water or are we smart because we stay calm in this place? There are now 26,000 infected and 450 dead, around us the world crisis center. Yesterday we thought that the really dangerous thing was the journey. The way to the airport, the airport, the plane, the arrival in Germany. What do we think today
The name Corona, the crown, goes well with this virus, which, by the way, is too small to have a color, we learn that in children’s programs. Donald Trump crosses out “Corona” in his manuscript and writes “chinese” over it with a black felt pen. The G7 cannot agree on an explanation because the Americans wanted to name the virus “Wuhan Virus”.
Trump has no strategy, just whims
Susan Sontag wrote: Syphilis was called “French smallpox” among the British, “Germanic disease” among the Parisians, “Naples disease” among the Florentines and “Chinese disease” among the Japanese “. According to Trump, there are attacks against compatriots of Asian origin in the USA. Trump asks for moderation: “They are hardworking and righteous.” The ones there. The strangers.
Up here on the 30th floor, we wash apples and pineapples with soap before we put them in the basket. Danger points are the elevator and especially the ground floor button; we ask neighbors to stay outside as soon as the elevator stops on the way down. Antisocial or professional? Danger points: doors and switches in the laundry room. Mailboxes.
Power works. Virologist Anthony Fauci and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are careful, professional; both believe in strategies and the discipline it takes to stick with a strategy. Both depend on Trump, whose daily press conferences are 90 minutes long and full of lies.
The topic there is not Corona, the topic remains Trump. A reality show. A series. There has to be something new every day, so three days ago there was no crisis and no problem, the day before yesterday a huge crisis and a war on the virus, yesterday everything was fine again as the President wanted America to reopen, and today Trump is considering Quarantine New York. No strategy, no discipline. Whims.
“Trader Joe” on Prince Street closes because of a corona case. “Whole Foods” still delivers via Amazon, but less often due to overloading, there have been corona cases in ten Amazon warehouses. Our supplies are long, we miss the New York life: books at “McNally Jackson”, a “Soy Latte” in Washington Square Park, while the son rocked. Life, a lifetime ago.
Strolling without touching New York, arching wide circles around every other person. No car on Broadway, no ship on the Hudson. A corona language is emerging: “Coronababies” are being conceived in Manhattan’s narrow apartments, and in 14 years they will be “Quaranteens”.
C. wrote on Saturday: “I volunteered to help as an emergency surgeon in the intensive care unit. Two colleagues died. No funeral, the bodies in an ice cream truck. This is how I felt after 9/11. Injured, sad, angry. “.
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