No one heard from her for a long time. But now Chancellor Angela Merkel (67, CDU) is again addressing the citizens directly with a Corona appeal.
“There are very difficult weeks ahead of us. And they feel that this worries me a lot. I’m sure many of you too, ”said Merkel in her video podcast, which was published on Saturday morning.
The number of infections is higher than ever, the number of corona intensive care patients is rising steeply “and, terribly, we have many deaths to complain about every day,” said Merkel in the video message.
From the Chancellor’s point of view, the reasons are clear: The delta variant of the coronavirus is more contagious and the current vaccination quota is not sufficient “to build up adequate protection for us all”. Hence their appeal: “Get vaccinated!”
Regions with a low vaccination rate are particularly affected. In such districts, the best possible medical treatment is “no longer possible”. The Chancellor reports that patients have to be relocated and operations postponed.
The Chancellor did not mention that the federal government, with the sleepy booster campaign and the abolition of the free rapid tests (which have been available again since Saturday), has played a major role in the poorly prepared Corona winter. Instead, for the booster vaccination, she only now demanded a “national effort under great time pressure”.
Merkel demands clinic alarm value
The Chancellor also wants to set uniform rules at a Corona summit with the countries in the coming week.
“We now urgently need a joint approach to the application of the hospitalization index. That is the value that indicates the number of corona patients in the hospitals and shows us how serious the situation is, “Merkel said.
To do this, however, a “threshold value” is required, from which “in each case, in accordance with the regional infection situation, additional steps must be taken to contain the pandemic in a binding manner beyond the measures currently in force”, the Chancellor added.
In plain language: If the clinic alarm value is exceeded, Merkel wants new regional tough measures that go beyond the mask requirement and 2G. She does not say whether she also means a new lockdown with closed schools or contact and exit restrictions.
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