Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Merkel: Corona to infect 60-70% of Germans


Wed 11 Mar 2020 | 07:16 PM
Yassmine Elsayed

This morning, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the government "will spend what it takes to tackle the corona virus which is likely to infect up to 70% of the population in Europe's largest economy."

"We will do what we need to get through this. And then at the end we will look at what that means for our budget," she told reporters, seeming to distance herself from Germany's policy of no new borrowing.

Noting that the risk was huge, Merkel added: "When the virus is out there, and the population has no immunity and no vaccination or therapy exists, then a high percentage - experts say 60 to 70% of the population - will be infected, so long as this remains the case."

On his part, the Czech prime minister said that Merkel's remarks could cause panic.

Germany has reported more than 1,296 confirmed cases of corona; only three people died from infection, according to the Robert Koch Institute for disease control.

The chancellor has been under criticism for having nothing said on the issue. Wide-selling daily Bild described it as "the corona chaos", saying that "No appearances, no speech, no leadership in the crisis."

Merkel urged Germans to watch their personal hygiene and contacts, urging the public to look at each other in the eye "for a second longer" rather than shake hands.

"We will do what is necessary as a country, and that is also together with Europe," added the chancellor, who spoke to fellow European Union (EU) leaders and the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) on Tuesday evening.

"We cannot yet gauge the economic consequences... but we will react," said Merkel, whose government has promised "timely, targeted" stimulus.

Meanwhile, a meeting of G7 nations' foreign ministers, which was scheduled to take place in Pittsburgh later this month, will be held by video conference, according to the U.S. State Department.