German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that up to 70 percent of the population of Germany could become infected with coronavirus. In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, she proposed how Germany would deal with the crisis. 

Angela Merkel calls for “solidarity and reason”

Angela Merkel called on the people of Germany to respond to the coronavirus outbreak with “solidarity and reason”. “The virus has arrived in Europe,” she said. “It’s here, we must all understand that.” 

She stressed that, since there was no known cure for the disease, the main task was now to curb its spread, to avoid overburdening the German healthcare system with too many cases at once. “It’s about winning time,” she explained. Measures would primarily target risk groups like the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions. 

Commenting on the fact that a vaccine has, as of yet, not been found, Merkel also said that, “According to experts, 60 to 70 percent of the population could be infected,” a repetition of comments made ahead of an emergency government meeting on Tuesday. 

Others accuse Merkel of spreading panic

Speaking later on Wednesday, the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis accused Merkel of spreading panic with her 60 - 70 percent figure. “We have adopted strong measures for such worst-case scenarios to be out of the question,” he said. 

Other health experts in Germany said that is unlikely that two-thirds of the population will be infected. A former government advisor, virologist Alexander Kekulé told German media that in the worst-case scenario a maximum of 40.000 people in the country would get the virus, based on the number of cases in China. 

Germany seeks to curb spread of coronavirus

However, with three deaths now confirmed and the total number of infections in Germany pushing 1.600, according to the John Hopkins University’s coronavirus resource centre, the government is stepping up restrictions. 

It has already pledged one billion euros to tackling the outbreak, and today Merkel indicated that her government would not rule out scrapping its “black zero” rule to allow new government spending. “It’s an extraordinary situation, we will do what’s necessary and luckily Germany is relatively robust,” she said, stressing that the priority was ending the virus crisis. 

Health Minister Jens Spahn reiterated his call to avoid all major events, including football games and club visits. On Monday Spahn advocated cancelling all large events with more than 1.000 attendees and today Berlin announced that the curtain would come down on all cultural events like concerts, plays and operas gathering more than 500 spectators. 

Spahn also warned that the population of Germany could face further restrictions on everyday life in the coming weeks and months. His comments came just as Italy entered its second day of national lockdown.