WORLD
Coronavirus: German president appeals to public in 'bitterly serious situation'
Baku, December 15, AZERTAC
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has appealed to the public to abide by a stricter lockdown that will take effect on Wednesday, according to DW.
He said that more restrictive measures were inevitable given the national numbers.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called on Germans for solidarity and consideration over the Christmas period in light of the new coronavirus lockdown.
"The situation is bitterly serious: thousands of deaths in a week and a rate of infection that is threatening to career out of control. We cannot avoid restrictive measures. The facts are unerring and they are distressing," he said in a speech in Berlin on Monday morning.
The president urged people to accept a different form of Christmas this year in order to protect others.
He said the tougher lockdown, agreed by state leaders and Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday, "will succeed and must succeed."
According to the Robert Koch Institute, Germany is currently averaging 176 cases per 100,000 people per week nationwide — more than three times the level at which the government says it is no longer feasible to trace the contacts of people with COVID-19.