Coronavirus: German Chancellor warns up to 70% of population could be infected

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned her country and said that authorities believed 60-70% of the population would eventually get infected by the novel coronavirus.

Angela Merkel said that at a press conference in Berlinalong with Germany’s Health Minister Jens Spahn, Merkel.

She further said it was important not to overburden the health system.

German Chancellor noted that every European country was affected, sending special thoughts to Italy in its fight against the virus.

Merkel said countries should focus on and support research, adding that Germany would deal with the crisis in a de-centralized manner.

German lawmakers will hold a meeting Thursday to coordinate regarding the crisis.

“We are in a situation where we don’t know many things, and what we don’t know, we have to take seriously,” Merkel said.

This is about protecting vulnerable people, she added.

Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel  arrived at a summit in Berlin on March 2, she approached the Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany for a handshake and in turn got snubbed by him.

Twitter asks its employees to work from home amid coronavirus outbreak

Video went viral on the internet in which, Angela Merkel tried to handshake with the German Interior minister, Horst Seehofer but the Minister smiled and refused to shake hands with the the Chancellor and kept his hands to himself.

Not shaking hands, don’t care who it is… #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/Xs0BWdD5YQ

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) March 2, 2020

In the end, both can be seen laughing, as Merkel throws her hands up in the air before taking a seat. She also said it was the “the right thing to do”.

Netizens are doing hilarious critique to the whole exchange:

Know what U mean..Boundries.. pic.twitter.com/JQmiC9XDwf

— Wonder Woman DKB (@BlasusDebra) March 2, 2020

😜https://t.co/xSIIuwZ4uz https://t.co/jT340DblX1

— Tennis Fan (@tennisfanbg) March 2, 2020

pic.twitter.com/6uUbZUMpyT

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— Touareg (@Touaregtweet) March 2, 2020

i am not 100% that this is due to #COVID-19 outbreak..

but… ok

— Uri Lederman (@ledermanu) March 2, 2020

Ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, started in December 2019.

First identified in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, China.

Coronavirus: Causes, Prevention and Treatment

As of March 13th  2020, 90,932 cases confirmed, around the world.

There have been 3,119  deaths attributable to the disease. However, more than 48,173 people recovered.