Coronavirus situation is more extraordinary than banking crisis - Germany's Merkel
Record ID:
1463440
Coronavirus situation is more extraordinary than banking crisis - Germany's Merkel
- Title: Coronavirus situation is more extraordinary than banking crisis - Germany's Merkel
- Date: 12th March 2020
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (MARCH 12, 2020) (REUTERS) GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL, BAVARIAN STATE PREMIER MARKUS SOEDER AND HAMBURG STATE PREMIER PETER TSCHENTSCHER (pron.: TCHEN-tcher) ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "We are in an extraordinary situation in every sense, I would say more extraordinary than the banking crisis because we here dealing with a health problem, a health challenge for which scientists and doctors don't have an answer yet. Our job now is to first save lives as best as we can and second, to keep the economy going and both tasks are challenging and we want to master them." MERKEL SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "Latest figures show that we are dealing with a so called dynamic outbreak which means that the number of infected people is rising sharply. That's why it was reiterated today in a stronger form than in previous days that wherever possible, social contacts should be avoided." SOEDER LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "We currently have a time slot (gestures) during which we can still work on avoiding social contacts and that's why today, we agreed to ban non-essential events not just above but also below 1,000 people." TSCHENTSCHER, A MEDICAL DOCTOR BY PROFESSION, LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "We made clear that in regions with a dynamic outbreak -- and there will be more and more of those (gestures) -- temporary closures of kindergartens and schools such as by extending the Easter holidays is an option." PHOTOGRAPHER "It is foreseeable that this will leave serious marks on our economy which is why I want to repeat what I already said yesterday and in light of a lot of uncertainty on the stock exchange: Germany will do what is necessary to supports its economy, to secure jobs and a sign for that is that tomorrow, the Bundestag (parliament) and Bundesrat (states' representation) will agree on short-term work payments to create certainty for employees and companies." REPORTERS AND CAMERA CREWS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "Tomorrow at noon, the federal finance minister (Olaf Scholz) and the federal economy minister (Peter Altmaier) will present further measures to support our businesses - I can't pre-empt them now, but they are very comprehensive." PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "We also agreed that we don't want to do this just on a national level but in close cooperation with our European neighbours and the European Union as a whole because we are convinced that we can only master this this difficult situation, this crisis if we stick together as Europeans." CAMERAS MERKEL AND OTHERS ON PODIUM
- Embargoed: 26th March 2020 20:52
- Keywords: coronavirus german chancellor angela merkel impact
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001C4QW953
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The global outbreak of the coronavirus is an extraordinary situation, Chancellor Angela Merkel said late on Thursday (March 12), "more extraordinary than the banking crisis."
Numbers of infected people were "rising sharply" and Germany's economy would be hit hard, Merkel told reporters after meeting for several hours with the country's 16 state prime ministers.
Germany will on Friday present a "very comprehensive" package of additional measures to support its businesses, Merkel said.
"Tomorrow at noon, the federal finance minister and the federal economy minister will present further measures to support our businesses - I can't pre-empt them now, but they are very comprehensive," said Merkel.
She added that for regions suffering a dynamic outbreak of coronavirus "the temporary closure of nurseries and schools, for example by bringing forward the Easter holidays, is another option."
(Production: Martin Schlicht, Tilman Hurlin, Michele Sani) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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