Quarantine in Germany

1. Describe your typical day.

I am currently working at an office with a small UX (User Experience) team and business has, of course, been affected by the regulations. However, as the office is quite spacious, half the team still goes to work from there while the other half works from home. We have gotten used to doing basically everything via conference calls quite quickly. For my other job, teaching yoga, it is definitely more of a drastic change as the studio had to close. Teaching live stream classes to students from all over and looking at their videos on a computer in front of me is definitely quite different from what I am used to. But surprisingly its been a lot of fun!

2. What restrictions have been imposed and do you think more there should be more or less regulation?

In Berlin, the changes happened seemingly overnight. Within a manner of a few weeks, life basically came to a total standstill. Except the occasional dog walker or jogger, the streets would be deserted and all non-essential business were closed. In the last few days, more and more restrictions have been lifted and with the exception of mandatory mask-wearing in stores, it almost seems as if we have returned to some sort of new "normal".

3. How do people feel about social distancing, overall?

There's a variety of reactions with it. Like in other places, it seems quite split here between people who are definitely in support of all imposed restrictions and, as Berlin is known to be a party town, there has also been a lot of resistance and protesting. Especially the now lifted rule of "no more than 2 people meeting at one time" created outrage in some at the time. My sense is that, at least in my neighborhood, many people are getting impatient and wish for their old normalcy to return.