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GERMANY-VIRUS-POLITICS-HEALTH,LEAD
Merkel to give first TV address on virus crisis Wednesday evening
BERLIN, March 18, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Chancellor Angela Merkel will for the
first time deliver a televised address to German citizens on the escalating
coronavirus crisis on Wednesday evening, a government spokesman said.
The German leader is expected to urge the public to heed government
recommendations to stay home, after Europe’s biggest economy announced
sweeping new measures to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Aside from her annual New Year’s Eve address, it will be the first time in
her 15-year tenure as chancellor that Merkel has addressed citizens directly
via a televised statement.
The chancellor will not announce “new measures” in the address, which will
be broadcast by Germany’s two major broadcasters ARD and ZDF, government
spokesman Steffen Seibert said.
“It will be about what now has to be done in Germany in order to slow the
spread of the virus and how each individual should play their part in that,”
he said.
On Monday, the government and federal states announced drastic new
restrictions to public life, including the closure of all non-essential shops
and a ban on religious gatherings.
Merkel and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also urged citizens to
“stay home” and to cancel holidays “at home and abroad”.
Germany is among the countries worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with
latest figures showing 12 deaths and 8,198 confirmed cases on Tuesday, a jump
of 1,042 from the previous day.
The Robert Koch Institute for public health, which publishes the official
figures, warned early Wednesday that the virus could ultimately infect up to
10 million people in the next two to three months if government measures are
not observed.
BSS/AFP/RY/1650 hrs