WEB DESK

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday urged residents to stay at home amid a sudden increase in the number of coronavirus infections in the country.

“We have to do everything we can now to ensure that the virus does not spread uncontrollably — every day counts,” Merkel said in her weekly podcast.

“I ask you to refrain from any trip that is not really necessary, any celebration that is not really necessary. Please stay at home — wherever you are, whenever possible,” she said.

Merkel said that Germany was currently in the midst of a “very serious phase” of the pandemic, adding that “the number of new infections is increasing by leaps and bounds every day.”

“The comparatively relaxed summer is over; now we are facing difficult months. How winter will be, how our Christmas will be, will be decided in the coming days and weeks. We all decide that through our actions.”

She called on Germans to show solidarity and restraint, as they did in the early phase of the pandemic.

“What brought us so well through the first half year of the pandemic?” she asked. “It was that we stood together and obeyed the rules out of consideration and common sense. This is the most effective remedy we currently have against the pandemic and it is more necessary now than ever.”

On Saturday, the Robert Koch Institute for disease control said Germany recorded 7,830 new coronavirus infections in the past 24-hour period, a new record since the pandemic began.

The number of cases was nearly 500 higher than on Friday and more than 1,500 higher than the prior infection peak recorded in March.

Germany plans to recruit up to 10,000 new contact tracers to help the country deal with the spike, Helge Braun, Minister of the Chancellory, said on Saturday.

“The need is enormous, a five-digit number of helpers will be required,” Braun told the Rheinische Post.