Merkel warns that hospitals are heading towards an "acute emergency" phase

An atypical appearance in extraordinary times.

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, defended this Monday before the press the need to comply with the restrictive measures given the seriousness of the epidemiological situation in the country.

In Germany, bars, gyms and museums have closed as of today;

restaurants are only open for takeout food;

and cultural activities are suspended.

Schools and shops remain open.

The chancellor has assured that many people understand the measures that come into force, but also recognized that there are "doubts, rejection and skepticism" about the restrictions.

Merkel has stressed that if the restrictions are respected, the so-called second wave can be broken.

If it works, December will be "bearable."

"It is up to all of us that this November is a collective success and a turning point for tracking the pandemic," he said.

He has also argued that good management of the pandemic "is the best for the economy."

This Monday, figures from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) indicate that there are 12,097 positives and 49 deaths registered in the last 24 hours.

The statistics for the beginning of the week tend to be generally downward, as delays tend to accumulate on weekends in the delivery of information by some Länder.

In total, since the beginning of the pandemic, Germany has accumulated 545,027 positives for coronavirus and 10,530 deaths.

The virus reproduction factor is 1.13;

that is to say, above the threshold considered critical by the health and political authorities.

Merkel has justified the restrictive measures given the increase in cases, which have tripled in the last two weeks.

"It is an exponential growth, which leads us to face an acute emergency situation in our hospitals at an ever-increasing rate," he told the press in Berlin, during an appearance of an hour and a quarter.

Merkel recalled that with the drop in temperatures, the virus reacts "more aggressively".

In Germany, the increase in patients admitted to intensive care in recent days, as well as the lack of health personnel to care for the sick, is of particular concern.

RKI data released last night indicate that the number of ICU patients has nearly tripled in two weeks, from 769 patients on October 18 to 2,061 today.

The chancellor recalled that it will be within 15 days when the consequences of the current growth of infections will begin to be seen in hospitals.

Reduce the number of contacts

Merkel has indicated that it is not known where 75% of infections occur.

The current incidence in the country today is 127.8 in a week for every 100,000 inhabitants and the objective, according to the chancellor, is to reduce it to 50, the threshold under which public health offices can guarantee tracing.

In addition, conservative politics has called for reducing the number of contacts.

He recalled that as of today, the maximum allowed is 10 people belonging to at most two family units.

It was last Wednesday when, given the increase in infections, the federal government agreed with the

partially close public life, which now comes into effect.

In the middle of the month, the chancellor will meet again with the regional heads of government to evaluate the effectiveness of the measures.

Information about the coronavirus

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- This is how the coronavirus curve evolves in the world

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- Guide to action against the disease