That is million dollar question and no one has a definite answer. Don't miss career growth opportunities because of Canada, you may regret it down the lane.
There won't be any significant delays because of location change AFAIK but do expect some level of delay and expect to produce new documents like PCC if your stay is going to be more than 6 months.
I wouldn't hold my breath, Germany just announced nation wide lockdown for unvaccinated and it won't take much time for other nations to follow the suit.
I wouldn't call it a ghost update, this is an automatic update to any active profile once current medicals expires. This is no indication of any progress, check for other messages like medicals passed on a xxx date or submit medicals again.
Yes you need to get your master's degree evaluated. No need for bachelor's degree, you can still do it by paying extra fees but wont add any value to your application either way.
I am glad to see all these updates but getting worried about August 2020 lol. It looks like updates are happening for tolks till April 2020 and Oct, Nov 2020 but no update from Aug 2020.
What other suggestions? There is no other way. You need to send an LOE ASAP with supporting documentation or you are looking at possibility of rejection.
It's not cruel at all, cruel is whole another level. They have received their PR and these things are just noise and can be resolved very very quickly.