‘A very tragic situation’: German Merkel warns against tightening restrictions on the Corona virus

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that Germany needs stricter restrictions on the coronavirus to control a record wave of infections, after the country’s health minister warned that people “will be vaccinated, cured or dead” by the end of winter.

More than 30,000 new infections were reported in the past 24 hours, after more than 50,000 infections were counted per day. Hospitals in some regions, such as Saxony in the east and Bavaria in the south, have warned that their intensive care units are overcrowded and have had to turn away patients and transfer them to other hospitals.

“We are in a very tragic situation. What exists now is not enough,” Merkel told German CDU leaders at a meeting, according to two participants.

Only about two-thirds of Germans over the age of 12 are vaccinated against Covid-19.

Although Germany was once viewed as a role model in its science-based measures to contain the epidemic, lower vaccination rates compared to other countries in Europe such as Spain, Portugal and France have been blamed for the surge in infected numbers this month. And stay in hospital.

Outgoing Health Minister Jens Spahn said not enough Germans had been vaccinated against the virus, which has infected record numbers in the past two weeks, and urged millions who have so far rejected the government’s offer to reconsider.

“It is very likely by the end of winter that almost everyone in Germany will have been vaccinated, recovered or died,” Spahn said, adding that the more contagious delta variant made the situation more dire than it was earlier this year.

“It is very likely that anyone who has not been vaccinated will become infected within the coming months,” added Spahn, 41. [by everyone]. The question: Is it achieved through vaccination or infection? That is why we urgently advise everyone to follow the route of vaccination.”

Spahn, a member of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats who was defeated in September’s election, is likely to leave office within the next few weeks once a new center-left government takes office.

A controversial figure for his tortuous path during the pandemic, Spahn faced criticism Monday for failing to order enough vaccines from Biontech-Pfizer to meet the recent surge in demand mainly related to getting Germans, or a third vaccine, in the past few weeks.

Spahn was urging doctors late last week to use more of a rival vaccine Moderna that was not as coveted in Germany as Biontech-Pfizer.

“Obviously we are doing everything we can to increase the amounts available,” Spahn said. We will not back down from anything. We will release all the vaccinations we have for use.”

The German government promised not to introduce a vaccination mandate although neighboring Austria recently made such a move to combat low vaccination rates there. However, this promise has been described by many political leaders as a mistake that must be rescinded due to the state of emergency.

In many parts of Germany, including its capital Berlin, Christmas markets opened on Monday for the first time in two years. But the countries bordering Austria and the Czech Republic which have the highest number of cases in the country have introduced stricter rules, scrapping Christmas markets, banning non-restaurants from restaurants and bars and imposing nightly curfews.

Austria became, on Monday, the first country in Western Europe to reimpose a lockdown since vaccines were introduced, shuttering non-essential shops, bars and cafes.

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