BERLIN: Germany’s health minister on Monday said that although measures to contain the spread of coronavirus had started showing an effect, further efforts were needed to bring the virus permanently under control.
“The (infection) numbers seem to be decreasing, which is good, but we are still a long way from where we want to be,” Jens Spahn told broadcaster ARD.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and the 16 state premiers will discuss next steps on Tuesday.
The number of new coronavirus infections has been decreasing in recent days and the occupancy of beds in intensive care units by COVID-19 patients has recently declined by 10-15%, according to Spahn.
However, the state premiers are concerned about new variants of the coronavirus that appear to be more contagious.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told public broadcaster RBB on Monday he could imagine extending the current lockdown by two weeks until mid-February.
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