The situation is uncontrollable in Germany, yet considered a model in the management of the pandemic by François Legault, while the country crossed the threshold of 40,000 deaths on Sunday and the worst is yet to come according to Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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Germany has recorded 465 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 40,343, said the Robert Koch Institute for Public Health (RKI).
More than 1.9 million people have been infected so far, with nearly 17,000 new cases recorded since Saturday. Germany, the most populous country in the European Union with some 83 million inhabitants, is struggling to contain the pandemic.
After the country was a benchmark in the first wave, when the peak in one-day cases was 6,294, COVID-19 is now wreaking havoc in the country. More than 5,000 COVID-19 patients are currently in intensive care.
“The hardest phase”
However, the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, has repeatedly mentioned using the German model to fight the pandemic. The measures announced during the holiday season were also inspired by the European country.
In a video message released on Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel argued that the worst was even to come, explaining that the full impact of the intensification of social contact during the holiday season was not yet visible in the statistics.
AFP Photo
Angela Merkel
Chancellor
She therefore warned the Germans that the coming weeks would be “the hardest phase of the pandemic” to date.
Prolonged confinement
The country has just extended and reinforced partial confinement until January 31 and is encouraging citizens to further reduce their contacts.
Schools like most non-food stores, bars, restaurants, cultural, sports and leisure facilities are closed until the end of January.