Merkel urges national effort to beat Germanys COVID-19 surge
BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday (Nov 13) called for a "national effort" to break a fourth wave of coronavirus that is sweeping Germany and again urged people to get vaccinated.
The EU's most populous country officially recorded 50,196 new cases over 24 hours to Thursday - the first time the figure has exceeded 50,000.
On Saturday, the Robert Koch Institut (RKI) health agency reported 45,081 more cases with 228 deaths over the previous 24 hours.
"I am very concerned by the situation," Merkel said in a weekly podcast.
"We face difficult weeks. We need a national effort ... to break the difficult autumn and winter wave of the pandemic.
"If we show solidarity, if we think about protecting ourselves and taking care of others, we can spare our country a great deal this winter," she said.
Infections and deaths have been climbing steeply since mid-October, in an outbreak blamed on Germany's relatively low vaccination rate of just more than 67 per cent.
Merkel told those refusing jabs "to reflect" on their position and agree to be inoculated against COVID-19.
She also backed a third dose saying it was a "real chance to break this major wave".
The country's likely next leader Olaf Scholz this week demanded new restrictions to combat the record surge in infections.
The measures proposed by the incoming coalition parties include restricting access to certain facilities to those who are vaccinated or have recovered from the disease.
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