Germany in midst of 'dramatic' fourth COVID wave, warns chancellor Angela Merkel

The outgoing chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel has characterised the rising Coronavirus condition in her nation as "dramatic", as per BBC. During a crisis conference with regional leaders, the chancellor claimed that the nation is in the grasp of a severe fourth COVID wave and further contemplated several measures to cope with the infection rate.  

As per a translation done by Deutsche Welle and numerous other media sites, Angela Merkel said at the event for the Association of German Cities, "The fourth wave is hitting our country with full force," CNBC reported. She went on to say that the total number of daily new cases which are being recorded, is way more than before, while the daily number of deaths is extremely terrifying. She further clarified that it was never too late for anybody who had not yet received the Covid vaccination. 

Germany's COVID tally

The remarks of Merkel came when Germany's public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute announced that 52,826 new cases were reported with 294 fatalities on Wednesday. As per Johns Hopkins University, Covid-19 has caused 5.1 million illnesses and nearly 100,000 deaths in Germany.  

On November 16, Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) named Germany, together with Russia and the United Kingdom, among the European countries with the highest new cases, the Associated Press reported. Following this, Merkel's cabinet and state political leaders will be conducting a meeting this week to talk about new national limitations to curb the transmission of the disease.

Several measures to curb transmission of COVID-19 disease 

Furthermore, several more Covid restrictions and measures have already been enacted in many states and cities. Among the measures, the public is required to show Covid passes, which contain information about an individual's vaccination status or whether they have recently recovered from the viral disease. this is required in order to enter bars, eateries, as well as other public venues such as movie theatres or museums. 

In addition to this, citing the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Associated Press reported that the measures also include stronger anti-virus workplace standards and a substantial increase in the penalty for falsifying vaccination passports or test certificates. Employees will also be given the option to work from home if possible. 

Meanwhile, infection cases have risen sharply in recent weeks, especially among the unvaccinated individuals, with southern and eastern Germany taking the brunt of the damage. With 57.6% of the population completely inoculated, Saxony has the lowest vaccination coverage in Germany, in comparison with the national average of 67.7%. 

As per the Associated Press, Jens Spahn, Germany's health minister, has urged doctors not to be too rigorous about waiting for nearly six months before delivering vaccination booster doses to patients. While, according to the latest numbers provided by the Worldometer, the total number of confirmed cases in the nation is 51,69,657 whereas the total number of fatalities is 98,908.     

(Image: AP/ Pixabay)