Angela Merkel on coronavirus: defense may last until the end of winter



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The second wave is expected

It will be harder than the first, like Spanish fever

in the most serious modern pandemic to date, mainly because it falls in a “worse season” than the first, the winter months. This means that epidemiological control “will tie us down all winter,” said the German prime minister.

He stressed that there was “positive news” about the development of the vaccine against the virus, but that the results “are not significantly manifested” in the development of the second wave of the epidemic. Therefore, infectious hygiene precautions will continue to be adhered to, said Angela Merkel, who spoke at an online press event to present a new forecast from an independent economic advisory body to the federal government, a think tank called the Council of Economic Wise Men. .

Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to contract by 5.1 percent this year and 3.7 percent next.

The epidemic plunged the economy into one of the deepest crises in post-World War II history, and the sharp decline in the second quarter was followed by strong growth in the summer, “the crown crisis is not over. “said Lars Feld, chairman of the board. Due to the sharp increase in the number of infections, the situation of the largest economy in the European Union is “fragile” and the development of processes is largely determined by how the epidemic is slowed down and how the external economic environment develops. added. He stressed that economic policy faces multiple challenges, in addition to the recession caused by the epidemic, it must also address the effects of digitization, climate change and demographic change.

In Germany, according to a report from the Robert Koch Institute for Public Health (RKI) on Wednesday the new type of coronavirus has been detected in 18,487 people in the last 24 hours (SARS-CoV-2). This is roughly a 7 percent increase from 17,214 cases in the previous week. The decrease in the strength of the wave of infection is indicated by the fact that the number of cases registered in the previous week was 15 percent higher than the 14,964 seven days earlier. Along with the new cases, 705,687 infections were recorded in Germany. It is associated with a disease caused by a virus (Covid-19). the number of deaths increased by 261 in one day, 11 767-re.

The number of people who need intensive care for Covid-19 rose to another peak, 3127, according to the summary of the professional organization of the area of ​​intensive care and accident care (DIVI) this Wednesday. This is 68 cases more than a day before. About one in two patients (1787 people) requires mechanical ventilation. According to the DIVI report, 28,502 intensive care beds are operated nationwide, of which 6,715 are free.

Cover image: Shutterstock



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