Germany Covid-19 situation dramatic

Germany's coronavirus situation is dramatic, Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday, calling for a push to distribute booster shots faster and appealing to those sceptical of vaccination to change their minds.

Germany reported 52,826 new infections yesterday- a jump of a third compared with a week ago and another daily record, while 294 people died, bringing the total to 98,274, as the pandemic's fourth wave tightened its grip on Europe.

"It is not too late to opt for a first vaccine shot," Merkel told a congress of German city mayors. "Everyone who gets vaccinated protects himself and others. And if enough people get vaccinated that is the way out of the pandemic."

Only 68 percent of people in Europe's most populous country are fully vaccinated - lower than the average in western Europe due to a tradition of vaccine hesitancy, while 5 percent of the population has had a booster shot.

Merkel also appealed to federal and regional leaders meeting today to introduce a measure that would trigger tighter restrictions based on the number of infected people who have to go to hospital in a week.

The Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats, who are negotiating to form the next government, are set to propose a range of measures to fight the pandemic.

Meanwhile, France is being hit by a fifth wave of Covid-19 infections but no extra restrictive measures to contain the spread of the disease are on the agenda for now, the government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said yesterday.

"The pandemic is spreading everywhere (...) but we are coping better than previously thanks to the vaccines and the health pass", Attal told reporters after a cabinet meeting.