Peter Altmaier, the German minister for economic affairs and energy, stated in an interview with Die Welt on Saturday that all depended on the arrival of the vaccine: “Even with a successful vaccine, we may have to maintain our restrictions for a considerable amount of time in 2021.”
Although Germany was thus far relatively stable compared to other regional countries, the state is now struggling to contain the spreading of the virus in the second wave. It was therefore decided on Wednesday that the current measures needed to be intensified so that social contacts among the population can be further limited until January.
Chancellor Merkel defended the measures in front of parliament, noting that the rise in infections was unacceptable. On Saturday, the state registered more than 21,000 new infections while the number of deaths rose by 379 within 24 hours. The Robert Koch Institute announced the following day that a total of 15,965 people have already died from Covid-19.
