Closing the borders is not an adequate response to the coronavirus challenges, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a press conference in Berlin.
“We in Germany believe that border closures are not an adequate response to the challenge”, – Merkel said, adding that home quarantine could be an acceptable measure, a measure that would help limit the spread of disease if infected people came from a risk zone.
On Wednesday, three people in Germany died as a result of the coronavirus. All cases were recorded in North Rhine-Westphalia, including the death of an 89-year-old woman in the town of Essen and the death of two other people in the Heinsberg district. In addition, a Hamburg tourist died on Sunday from the coronavirus in Egypt. On Tuesday, the Robert Koch Institute reported 1,139 confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany.
On 31 December 2019, Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) of an outbreak of unknown pneumonia in Wuhan city in central Hubei province. Specialists have identified the pathogen, a new coronavirus. WHO recognized the outbreak as an emergency of international importance and gave the disease its official name, COVID-19.