BERLIN (Reuters) – The light is at the end of the tunnel and “we will defeat this virus,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told Germany on Thursday, just a day after asking the country to forgive its turn on a week-long circuit breaker Santa.
Merkel’s decision on Wednesday to abandon plans for an extended Easter break to try to break a third wave of COVID-19, agreed two days earlier during talks with governors of the 16 German states, raised concerns she had lost. crisis control.
On Thursday, in a firm 27-minute speech to lawmakers, he acknowledged the hardships of life for many people, but urged them to think positively, arguing that vaccinations offer a way out of the crisis.
“It will be a few more months, but the light at the end of the tunnel is visible. We will beat this virus! ”He told lawmakers in the lower house of the Bundestag Parliament.
“Now it is a matter of gathering strength and making positive progress, although the situation is difficult at the moment. That’s what I want from everyone in this country, ”Merkel said amid loud applause.
Germany reported another 22,657 infections on Thursday, while the death toll rose from 228 to 75,440. Deaths have declined since the beginning of the year, when vaccination had not begun, but admissions to intensive care units are intensifying and the incidence of seven-day cases is 113 compared to 90 in a week ago.
Merkel addressed the Bundestag ahead of a summit of EU leaders later on Thursday, at which she said they would debate how to ensure more vaccines are produced on European soil.
The European Commission has threatened to ban exports to countries like Britain that have higher vaccination rates but do not export shots to the EU. The goal is to safeguard supplies for the bloc’s own citizens when they face a third wave of the pandemic.
“British production sites manufacture for Britain and the United States does not export, so we are confident in what we can do in Europe,” Merkel said.
“We have to assume that the virus, with its mutations, may be occupying us for a long time, so the question goes far beyond this year,” he added.
Britain and the European Commission said on Wednesday they were discussing how they could work together to create a “win-win” situation over COVID-19 vaccines after the bloc threatened to take tougher measures to curb exports of deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines. shots.
Ahead of the EU summit, Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder supported requests for controls on European vaccine exports.
“It is necessary to ban the export of European vaccines to countries that produce vaccines on their own and do not supply anything to Europe,” he tweeted.
Report by Paul Carrel; Edited by Riham Alkousaa and Catherine Evans