アイルランド（Ireland 🇮🇪）： back to normal ‘by late Spring in 2021,’

２０２０年１１月３０日（Mon.）　各国が、このような状態になれるのであれば申し分ないと思うのですが・・・。期待したいところですが、過大な期待も禁物でしょう。（ニュースソース：　The Liberal.ie  １１月２９日発　）

＜原文の一部＞

Covid-19: Life could be back to normal ‘by late Spring in 2021,’ according to scientist involved in vaccine trials

Pre-pandemic life could return ‘by late Spring next year,’ according to a leading scientist involved in vaccine trials.

The comments, made by Dublin Professor Adrian Hill, were made amidst the impending availability of one or more vaccines for Covid-19.

While no vaccine has actually been approved for mass use yet, there are hopes that this will happen before the end of the year.

（超抜粋）パンデミック以前の生活に、2021年の4月下旬までには戻れるかも知れません。（以下、原文を読み流して下さい。）

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それにしても、実にワクチン開発・供給次第と言うことでしょう。

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つい最近、日本のワクチン開発実情を報道によって知りました。全く、海外の医薬品メーカーなどに遅れをとっているようです。また、政府の後押しやリーダーシップなどは殆ど出来ていないとのことです。これは看過出来ないニュースでした。

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ドイツ（Germany 🇩🇪）： but some mulled wine 'to go'

２０２０年１１月２９日（Sun.）　参考にしても良いのではないでしょうか。（ニュースソース：　DWーDE  １１月２９日発　）

＜原文の一部＞

Coronavirus: No Christmas markets — but some mulled wine 'to go'

Germany’s Christmas markets, collections of festive shopping stalls and mulled wine stands in city centers, are shuttered because of the pandemic. But a company in Cologne is trying to do what little it still can.

（注：　mulled wine = ワインに香料や砂糖などを入れて温めた飲み物。）

It's been a pretty grim year for event organizers and hospitality businesses, with the crucial Christmas period looking little better amid continued lockdowns and high coronavirus caseloads in Germany heading towards December.

Nevertheless, entrepreneurs are trying to find ways to do what they can in these difficult times.

In the Lindenthal district of Cologne in western Germany, the Schulte & Schulte events business has set up a mulled wine and Christmas snacks stand outside the four star Leonardo Royal Hotel am Stadtwald. The Schulte brothers only decided to set up store here on Wednesday, but they say the hotel was quick to support the plan.

Consciously avoiding the term Christmas market, their little stall is called the "Lindenthal Winter Village."

"This is private property that we are permitted to use. That's why we can set up our mulled wine hut here; it's not currently permitted in public spaces given the situation," Timo Schulte tells DW from behind his bar with its plexi-glass shield, while "Jingle Bell Rock" plays over the loudspeakers. "We chose to set up here because the location is ideal, it's beautiful and it's perfect for walking. So passers-by can pick up their 'to go' mulled wine here, then walk on with their family."

Timo Schulte and his brother have set up several innovative seasonal mini-attractions around Cologne, including a mulled wine home delivery service with delivery drivers dressed as Santa Claus

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The site is suitable in many senses, as the hotel backs onto a picturesque park. Several benches set up in a semi-circle survey a lake and a fountain at the entry to the Stadtwald wooded area in the southwest of Cologne, providing seating and pleasant vistas for anybody who stops to buy a warm beverage. The area is also a popular haunt for people walking their dogs or getting some exercise, so there's a reasonable amount of footfall most days as people wander past. The area is only accessible to pedestrians.

Having logged almost 18,500 COVID-19 cases, and with 141 cases per 100,000 residents over the last seven days, according to RKI data, Cologne is currently faring better than several major cities in Germany. That said, it's still well beyond the 50 cases per 100,000 people per week deemed unacceptably high by the German government.

（注：　以下、転載省略。　・・・　原文サイトはこちら　・・・　）

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ケルンもCOVID19の状況としては非常に悪い数値を示しています（原文参照）。そんな中でも可能性を模索した結果なのでしょう。また、一極集中型ではなく、地域分散型として価値を見出す機会になるのかも知れません（ドイツは元々そうした考えが強いと思います）。

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ちなみに、日本国内でも、mulled wine に相当した商品は入手可能ですので、気になる方は探してみてはどうでしょうか。

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ドイツ（Germany 🇩🇪）： Germany's cities are festively lit

２０２０年１１月２８日（Sat.）　ドイツの状況は、まだまだ思わしくない状態のようです。特にNRW州はヒドイ数値になっています（2013年に滞在していました）。　それでも、主要な街では、クリスマスの為の灯りが点灯されているようです。（ニュースソース：　DWーDE １１月２７日発　）

＜原文の一部＞

Christmas shine despite the coronavirus: Germany's cities are festively lit

Most Christmas markets in Germany have been cancelled. What remains is festive lighting in many cities. A journey through pre-Christmas Germany: From Lübeck to Nuremberg.

Lübeck

The Holstentor Gate without a twinkling light? Unthinkable! The seasonal decorations in the old town of Lübeck with Christmas trees, fairy lights and garlands create a pre-Christmas atmosphere, even if the traditional Christmas market had to be cancelled.

（注：　北の街リューベック、ハンザ同盟都市でもあります。有名な少し傾いているホルステン門です。）

 

Münster

Sometimes an illuminated Christmas tree is enough to mark the festive season. When the medieval center has been so charmingly reconstructed as around the Prinzipalmarkt in Münster, a Westphalian town, the city can only profit from it, maybe not from sales revenues, but in terms of atmosphere.

（注：　ミュンスターはNRW州内の街で、環境先進都市でもあります。ドイツで自転車にフレンドリー１番の街と言われています。）

 

Frankfurt

In front of the city hall, on the central Römerberg in Frankfurt, a lonely pine tree is a reminder that the Christmas market had to be cancelled in the banking metropolis as well. This year's Christmas tree is a 21-meter (69-foot) spruce from the Gröbminger Land in Austria. The impressive tree actually had to be cut down for a stream restoration.

（注：　全部で１０都市を紹介しています。　・・・　原文サイト　・・・　）

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クリスマス・マーケットは殆どが中止だそうですが、“灯り“は点灯させるようです。世界中で、COVID19の終息を願っていることでしょう。

それにしても、それに反する無関心や無知な連中も、およそ２割を占めているのかも知れません。そうだと仮定すると、一定の罰則等も設けないと終わりは来ないのかも知れません・・・。

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ドイツ（Germany 🇩🇪）： Germany passes 1 million cases

２０２０年１１月２７日（Fri.）　地球規模で見て、第二波は下降局面に入ったのでしょうか。しかし、仮にそうだとしても、根本的な解決策に基づくものではなく、部分的なロックダウンや規制等に依る一時的な効果の現れに過ぎないと言うことでしょう。繰り返しになりますが、早急なるワクチン開発と供給、治療方法の確立等を願うことに変わりはありません。

さて、ドイツは感染者が百万人を超えてしまいました。（ニュースソース：　DWーDE  １１月２６日発　）

＜原文の一部＞

Coronavirus digest: Germany passes 1 million cases

Germany has seen more than 1 million cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. US health experts fear Thanksgiving gatherings will lead to a spike in infections. DW rounds up the latest.

（抜粋）ドイツの感染者は百万人を突破。USでは、サンクスギブンデー（感謝祭）の集いによる感染拡大が懸念されています。

Germany passed 1 million cases of coronavirus since the pandemic began, according to figures compiled by the US Johns Hopkins University.

The grim milestone was passed after German health authorities recorded 22,268 new cases on Thursday, and 389 deaths. Overall, 15,160 people have died.

Germany has extended its partial lockdown into December. Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended the extension of the partial lockdown in a speech to lawmakers. She said the current measures had enjoyed some success, but more was needed to avoid the health system being overwhelmed.

（超抜粋）ドイツの感染者は木曜日22,268人、死者は389人を数え、合計としては15,160人の死者数になりました。

Americas

Americans awoke on Thursday to celebrate a Thanksgiving Day like no other, with families urged to avoid gatherings to prevent spreading the coronavirus that has killed more than 260,000 US citizens.

The world's largest parade, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, a mainstay of the festivities, has been scaled down this year, with the millions who typically attend staying home and the procession lasting for one block, rather than two miles (3.2 kilometers).

Many families are left resigned to online meetings as they tuck in to their Thanksgiving turkey dinners.

But the TSA reported more than 6 million airline passengers passed through US airports between Friday and Wednesday, making it the busiest weekend since mid-March. Medical experts have expressed fears that the holiday season will cause more surges in infections.

The US hit a new daily hospitalization record, with almost 90,000 people currently being treated for COVID-19. It is the 16th day in a row that the hospitalized figure is a new record and Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNN: "I worry that the Thanksgiving Day surge will then just add into what will become the Christmas surge, which will then make this one seem as if it wasn't so bad."

Europe

Sweden's Prince Carl Philip and his wife Princess Sofia are self-isolating after contracting COVID-19, the royal palace has said.

Carl Philip, the 41-year-old son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, and Sofia, 35, "have light flu symptoms" and are recuperating at home with their two young children, the palace said in a statement.

Hungary has no immediate plan to introduce more restrictions, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff has said, even though health officials are reporting a steady increase in both cases and deaths. But the government's Gergely Gulyas did say the situation would be reviewed again next week.

Asia

South Korea has recorded more than 500 new infections of COVID-19 for the first time in almost eight months.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the 583 additional cases in the past 24 hours took the national tally to 32,318, with 515 fatalities.

South Korea has been experiencing a spike in cases since it relaxed strict social distancing rules last month. To deal with the latest resurgence, the country on Tuesday reimposed tough distancing guidelines in the capital, Seoul, as well as other parts of the country.

The Philippines is set to purchase 2.2 million doses of a vaccine from pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, the head of the country's coronavirus vaccination program has said.

Africa

Sadiq al-Mahdi, Sudan's last democratically elected prime minister and leader of the country's largest political party, has died due to the coronavirus in a hospital in the United Arab Emirates, his party said.

Al-Mahdi, 84, was taken to Abu Dhabi for treatment in early November. His body was expected to arrive in Sudan for burial Friday morning, the National Ummah Party said.

（注：　原文を流し読みして下さい。　・・・　原文サイト　・・・　）

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全世界としては、感染者6千万人を超えてしまいました。冒頭のコメントにも関連しますが、仮に収束方向に向かったとしても、それは一時的なものであり、人々が気を緩めた行動に移れば、再び感染は広がる方向に向かうでしょう。　ワクチン開発、頑張れ！　リソースを投入せよ〜！

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アイスランド（Iceland 🇮🇸）： Christmas Cat Illuminates

２０２０年１１月２６日（Thu.）　今年も登場しています、アイスランドに。（ニュースソース：　iceland monitor  １１月２４日発　）

＜原文の一部＞

Christmas Cat Illuminates Lækjartorg Square

The cat, showing its teeth.

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With only a month to go till Christmas, Icelanders are busy putting up Christmas lights.

On Friday last week, the main attraction, the Christmas cat, was lit on Lækjartorg square the third year in a row. It stands there, red-eyed and threatening, showing its teeth to passers-by. The cat is five meters high and six meters wide (16x20 ft).

Its design is the result of cooperation between the City of Reykjavík, MK Illumination in Austria and Garðlist gardening firm.

The Christmas cat is part of Icelandic folklore. It has long been said that anyone who isn’t given new clothing for Christmas will be eaten by the cat.

Poet Jóhannes úr Kötlum (1899-1972) described the cat in his poem ‘Jólakötturinn’ (The Christmas Cat) as one that catches people, not mice, but noted that if care is taken to give everyone new clothes for Christmas, the cat will leave them alone.

Placing the cat in the middle of a shopping square surrounded by clothing stores must serve as a powerful incentive for people to keep shopping.

（超抜粋）このクリスマス・キャットの由来は、アイスランドの民話に基づいており、クリスマスに新しい服を贈られなかった人（子）は、この猫に食べられてしまうと言うものです。（注：　原文を流し読みして下さい。）

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アイスランドでも累計で5,000人以上の感染者を出しており、死者も26人と報道されています。この先のクリスマスシーズンを例年通りに迎えることが出来ることを祈ります。

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ところで日本、１０月下旬から感染者数値が増加を始めたことは事実が示しています。そして、１１月中旬にはピーク（？）を迎え、現在、対策に追われている感が否めません。仮に、ニュージランド風に対策を実施するならば、１０月下旬の段階で行ったのではないでしょうか（あくまで、仮定・推論の話です）。

いずれにしても、個人的意見としては、早めの対策が望ましいと考えています。そして、このクリスマスシーズンや年末・年始を愛する家族たちと過ごしたいですね❗️

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