By Sylvia Cunningham, Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and William Glucroft
Cinemas across Berlin reopened yesterday but with strict pandemic rules in place.
At the Yorck movie theater group, for instance, it’s mandatory to leave empty seats between groups, meaning theaters will be filled to a maximum 30% capacity.
Yorck CEO Christian Bräuer said moviegoers must wear a mouth and nose covering when moving around the theater but may take it off once they are seated.
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Three of every five Germans believe people should be able to get a COVID-19 test, free of charge.
The Germany-wide survey by the daily, Augsburger Allgemeine, found 60% of respondents want the government to pay for the screening, even if the people being tested aren’t showing coronavirus symptoms.
The results were even higher among those at greater risk of the disease. Of those surveyed, two out of three who were over 65 think free tests should be the norm.
Bavaria was the first German state to announce free testing saying if insurance doesn’t cover it, the government will.
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The German Farmers’ Association has criticized a social media trend they say endangers people and livestock.
It’s called the “Kulikitaka Challenge,” named for the song by merengue performer Toño Rosario.
Standing in front of livestock, users of the social media video platform Tik-Tok do a move to the song that then scares the animals off.
A spokesman for the farmers group told news agency dpa the challenge puts both people and animals in danger, triggering a fight-or-flight response in the panicked cows.
The Bavarian town of Immenstadt reported this week that 13 cows fell off a mountain, killing two of them. Officials blamed nighttime revelers, who frightened the animals.
This news is brought to you in cooperation with Berliner Rundfunk.
