Chancellor, Angela Merkel, will meet with leaders from 16 states, and is expected to propose, according to the France-Presse news agency, a new package of measures to contain the large increase in cases that have occurred in recent weeks.

According to this plan, from 4 November, and for the duration of a month, restaurants, bars, sports, cultural and leisure facilities, such as cinemas and theatres, should close their doors. The German government will try to avoid a full lockdown, with the closing of schools and nurseries, and forcing the population to stay at home. There are two districts, in the region of Bavaria, where full lockdown is already taking place.

The German health minister Jens Spahn, who is self-isolating after contracting the virus, said to the radio station SWR that “If intensive care units fill up, it is too late", appealing for the need to “reduce contagions”. Germany has registered a total of 464,239 cases since the start of the pandemic, from this nearly 332,800 people have already recovered. In the last 24 hours, 85 deaths have been accounted for from a total of 10,183 infected people.