Angela Merkel calls for national efforts to end new wave of Covid-19 in Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel It was announced on Saturday (13) that a “national effort” is needed to end the fourth wave of Covid-19 in Germany She asked people to get the vaccine.

“I am very concerned about the situation. We are facing difficult weeks. We need a national effort to end the strong wave of autumn and winter. [no hemisfério norte] of the pandemic,” Merkel stated in her weekly podcast.

“If we stay united, and if we think about protecting ourselves and taking care of others, we can save a large part of our country in the winter,” he added.

Merkel expressed concern about the large increase in infections, the high number of patients in intensive care units and the high number of daily deaths, especially in regions with low vaccination rates, such as the east of the country.

Germany is facing a fourth wave of Covid-19 in recent weeks, with a record number of infections. Austria and the Czech Republic are also in a similar scenario.

Germany records more than 50,000 new cases of Covid-19 for the first time in the epidemic

This Saturday, the Robert Koch Institute of Health recorded 45,081 new infections and 228 deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours. On Thursday, the country recorded 50,196 new cases, Daily record since the beginning of the epidemic (See more in the video above).

The German chancellor also urged non-vaccinators to “think” and accept the vaccine. According to the government, 67.4% of the population is fully vaccinated, far from the set target: 75%.

Merkel favors a booster dose of the vaccine, which she sees as a “real opportunity to break the tide of infection.”

The chancellor, who remains in office until a new government is formed, said it was “urgent” for the federal government and the territories to adopt a “unified approach” and, in particular, a “threshold indicator” from which they should be adopted. Additional measures.

Since the northern hemisphere spring, authorities have taken into account not only the number of new infections per day, but also the saturation of hospitals to enact new restrictions.

Merkel said this threshold indicator should be “prudently set so that the necessary measures are not taken too late”.

On Friday, the head of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar Wheeler, said Germany must prepare for a difficult scenario, and called for tighter restrictions.

“We have to assume that the situation will continue to deteriorate throughout Germany and that this development cannot be contained without further action,” he warned. Difficult weeks and months lie ahead.