“These days and weeks (…) are difficult times for our country. And it will last a long time yet”, said the Chancellor in her speech, the last as she will complete her fourth and final term in the fall of 2021.
“Winter remains difficult”, added the one who has led Europe’s largest economy for 15 years, again calling the pandemic a “historical crisis”.
Long considered a European “good student” in the management of the epidemic, Germany was hit hard by the second wave of the coronavirus and had to decree a new partial containment at least until January 10.
“The challenges posed by the pandemic remain immense”, she insisted, thanking the vast majority of Germans for having respected the instructions for reducing contacts aimed at combating the spread of the virus.
In total, 32,107 people have succumbed to the virus in Germany since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest figures from the Robert Koch health watch institute (RKI).
The daily death toll exceeded 1,000 for the first time on Wednesday, a record that the RKI also explained as a catch-up effect, regional health authorities having sent it incomplete data due to the Christmas holidays.
With regard to all the dead and their relatives, the Chancellor blasted the movement of corona-skeptics in the country, which has been illustrated by several large demonstrations partly accompanied by violence this year.
“I can only imagine the bitterness felt by those who mourn a loved one because of the coronavirus, or those who continue to suffer from after-effects, when the existence of the virus is contested or denied by some”, did she say
“Conspiracy theories are not only false and dangerous, they are also cynical and cruel to these people”, she hammered.
The coming year is more than ever placed under the sign of hope, she said, however, in reference to the start of vaccinations in the country and in Europe.
“In recent days, hope has had a face: that of the first vaccinated” in retirement homes and nursing staff.
Since his fifteen years at the head of the executive, “We have never, despite concerns, been so eager to enter a new year”, she judged.
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