German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged unvaccinated people to reconsider their decision in a video message this Saturday (13th), as the country’s seven-day coronavirus incidence rate rose to the highest level since the pandemic started.
“We have tough weeks ahead, and you can see I’m very worried,” Merkel said in her weekly video broadcast. “I urgently ask everyone who has not yet been vaccinated: please reconsider.”
The incidence rate of Covid-19 in the last 7 days – the number of people infected per 100,000 inhabitants – reached 277.4 this Saturday, reported the Robert Koch Institute. This is a record so far: the highest rate during the pandemic was recorded in December 2020 and was 197.6.
The German government and political leaders from 16 states are expected to meet next week to debate tougher control measures, although the three parties currently negotiating the formation of a new government have agreed to the expiration of the “state of emergency” – to which the country has been subjected since the beginning of the pandemic – on the 25th of November.
“It always helped when the federal government and the states came together to work together to standardize the rules,” Merkel said.
The German army is preparing to mobilize 12,000 soldiers by Christmas to help overburdened health services, reports Der Spiegel, and will provide booster vaccines and tests in nursing homes and hospitals.
The Army was not immediately available for comment.
Europe has once again become the epicenter of the pandemic, prompting governments to reassess the imposition of unpopular Christmas Day lockdowns and debate whether vaccines alone are enough to fight Covid-19.
Reference: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
