Two-thirds of Germans may be infected: Merkel

Germany will spend what it takes to tackle the coronavirus which is likely to infect up to 70 per cent of the population in Europe’s largest economy, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

“We will do what we need to get through this. And then at the end, we will look at what that means for our budget,” she told reporters, seeming to distance herself from Germany’s policy of no new borrowing.

Though conceding she did not know how the crisis would develop, Merkel said the risk was huge. “When the virus is out there, and the population has no immunity and no vaccination or therapy exists, then a high percentage experts say 60 to 70 per cent of the population will be infected, so long as this remains the case,” she said.

That drew swift criticism from the Czech prime minister who said Merkel’s remarks could cause panic. Germany has confirmed three deaths related to the coronavirus. It has reported 1,296 cases, according to the Robert Koch Institute for disease control.

The chancellor was speaking after mass-selling daily Bild berated her for what it called “the corona chaos”. “No appearances, no speech, no leadership in the crisis,” it wrote. Merkel urged Germans to watch their personal hygiene and contacts, recommending they look each other in the eye “for a second longer” rather than shake hands.

“We will do what is necessary as a country, and that is also together with Europe,” added the chancellor, who spoke to fellow European Union (EU) leaders and the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) on Tuesday evening. “We cannot yet gauge the economic consequences ... but we will react,” said Merkel, whose government has promised “timely, targeted” stimulus.

The measures marked one of the most drastic policies imposed by a modern democracy and followed a day in which cases accelerated across Europe, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel warning that more than two-thirds of Germany's nearly 83 million people could be infected before the outbreak ends.

In Italy, where there have been more than 12,000 confirmed cases and 827 deaths, the health crisis is escalating so quickly that the country has found itself willing to upend normal life and take an economic cliff dive all in a bid to keep people indoors, reduce infections and stave off an even deeper emergency in its hospitals.

"Right now the whole world is looking at us," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said, telling Italians to leave their homes "only when strictly necessary." Once the new steps take effect Conte did not specify when only the most essential parts of society will continue to function. Farms can still produce food, factories can still churn out products, and public transportation will still function.

The steps might have seemed unimaginable to Italians even a week ago. But the pace of the virus's growth mixed with worrying depictions of a teetering health system has caused a day-by-day national transformation, with people moving from grief toward acceptance about the extent of the changes in their lives. "You're changing your life's habits, making sacrifices, but these renunciations are offering a great, precious contribution to the country," Conte said.