MERKEL APPEALS FOR GERMAN UNITY OVER LONG LOCKDOWN

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has described the coronavirus crisis as a "huge effort" for families in the face of the weeks-long lockdown and appealed for patience, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

"We are not yet ready to reopen daycare centers and schools," she said in her weekly video podcast released on Saturday. "[But] the more consistent we are now, refraining from contact and keeping our distance where it is unavoidable, following hygiene rules and wearing masks, the sooner it will be possible again." The lockdown lasts until mid-February.

Meanwhile, federal and state health ministers were scheduled to discuss the progress of the vaccination campaign on Saturday.

The federal government has come under fire for the slow start to the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. In addition, there are supply bottlenecks on the part of manufacturers.

According to data released by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control on Saturday morning, there were 12,321 new coronavirus infections across Germany within the past day.

A week ago the RKI had recorded 16,417 new infections. According to the RKI, the number of new infections reported within seven days per 100,000 inhabitants - the seven-day incidence rate - was 90.9 on Saturday morning; the federal government's target is 50.

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