Berlin (dpa) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday welcomed the «important, urgent» decision by her Cabinet to approve new national measures to stem high coronavirus infection numbers.
The so-called «emergency brake» would mean an end to inconsistencies between policies by Germany’s 16 federal states, she said, and would kick in «automatically» when infections numbers in a given area rise too high.
«The situation is serious, and we must treat it seriously … The third wave has our country in its grip,» she said at a press conference.
The seven-day incidence rate of infection nationally rose to 140.9 on Tuesday, with 294 new deaths reported over the past 24 hours.
Merkel said the country’s vaccine campaign – which has been criticized for being slower than in many other countries – is progressing «better every day.»