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‘When the virus is out there, the population has no immunity and no therapy exists, then 60 to 70% of the population will be infected.’
That’s German Chancellor Angela Merkel talking about the spread of the coronavirus in widely reported comments made at a news conference in Berlin.
“The process has to be focused on not overburdening the health system by slowing the virus’s spread. It’s about winning time,” Merkel continued, adding that the government’s top priority should be slowing the spread of the virus.
The latest tally from Johns Hopkins University shows there are more than 1,500 cases in Germany, including three deaths. Spain now has 2,026 cases and 47 deaths; Italy, which is under a countrywide quarantine, has 10,149 cases and 631 deaths; France has 1,784 cases and 33 deaths.
Like President Trump, Merkel has faced widespread criticism for her government’s slow and inadequate response to the outbreak. The German daily Bild recently slammed her for what it called “the corona chaos,” claiming “No appearances, no speech, no leadership in the crisis.”
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Reuters reported, was later asked about Merkel’s comments.
“I don’t want to comment on the situation in Germany, although I believe that such statements rather cause panic,” he said. “In any case, we have adopted strong measures for such worst-case scenarios to be out of the question.”
Globally, there are more than 121,000 cases with a death toll of 4,369. The U.S. case count is now 1,039, with 29 deaths in California, Florida, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Washington.
