Merkel says the coming days, weeks are decisive in battling pandemic

The measures Germany takes in the coming days and weeks will be decisive in determining how well the country makes it through the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Wednesday.

“We are already in a phase of exponential growth, the daily numbers show that,” she said after a meeting in which she and the leaders of Germany’s 16 states agreed on tougher measures to control the spread of the virus.

Germany posted a record daily increase in confirmed coronavirus cases, adding 6,638 cases and bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 341,223, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.

Germany’s previous record daily increase was 6,294 on March 28, according to RKI data.

Thursday’s tally showed the reported death toll rose by 33 to 9,710.

By European standards, Germany has experienced relatively low infection and death rates so far during the pandemic, but new daily cases have jumped in recent weeks and Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned there could be 19,200 infections per day if current trends continue. 

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