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Angela Merkel: Serious coronavirus
Photo: MARKUS SCHREIBER / AFP
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) is urging to contain the threatening spread of corona in Germany.
In a conversation with top representatives of the likely future government partners SPD, Greens and FDP, Merkel made it clear that the situation was "extremely serious," said government spokesman Steffen Seibert in Berlin.
"We are on the way to an emergency like we have never had in this country," said Seibert.
This will continue to worsen over the next few days.
Among other things, he referred to increasingly scarce capacities in intensive care units and the need to transfer patients to other clinics across regions.
It must now be a matter of braking and breaking the fourth corona wave, Seibert made it clear to the Chancellor.
He did not provide any information on possible further containment measures and calls for a more rapid renewed federal-state vote.
He also referred to the confidentiality of the conversation with the SPD, Greens and FDP.
Meanwhile, the Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans (CDU) has called for rapid consultations from the Prime Ministers about uniform, stricter rules.
"We must prevent the threatened overloading of the health system with all our might and must not wait until December 9th to analyze the situation," said Hans of the dpa news agency.
"We now have to discuss how we can create fresh air in this phase of the pandemic - through uniformly stricter measures with clear rules for hotspots and a massive relief offensive for the health system," said Hans.
Consultations should ideally take place this week.
The number of new corona infections transmitted to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) within one day had reached a high of 66,884 on Wednesday.
In addition, the nationwide seven-day incidence rose above 400 for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the RKI.
svs / wit / dpa / Reuters
