More than 50,000 cases of coronavirus were registered in Germany on Thursday, for the first time since the pandemic began.
The Robert Koha Institute (RKI) said on Saturday that 45,081 infections and 228 deaths had been reported in the previous 24 hours.
“I am very concerned about the situation,” Merkel said. “We are facing difficult weeks. We need to make a national effort to overcome the severe autumn and winter waves of the pandemic.”
In Germany, the number of infections and deaths from Covid-19 has risen sharply since mid-October, which experts blame on the relatively low level of vaccination.
In Germany, about 67% of the population, or 83 million people, have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to official figures. Officials are concerned about the slow pace of vaccination, but, unlike other European countries, Germany has not made it compulsory for professionals to be vaccinated.
