CHANCELLOR MERKEL: Ladies and gentlemen, as you are aware, we have just held extensive talks. While the conditions were challenging, we have reached a positive outcome. I am pleased to report that the Federal Government and the Länder have worked together extensively and productively, not just this afternoon, but also during the preparations in recent days. I would also like to offer my sincerest thanks to the Länder, who have done a great deal to make this possible.

We are coming to the end of November. In our conference on 28 October, we agreed to introduce far-reaching but temporary measures. Today, as agreed, we have taken stock of the developments in November and decided on a path for the coming weeks. You are already aware that we wanted to do this for a longer period than just two or three weeks.

We share the same assessment of the impact of these measures so far – the exponential growth in the number of new infections has been halted. The steep upward curve has become a horizontal line. But this is only a partial success. It has prevented hundreds of thousands of infections, and has thus saved our health system from becoming overwhelmed and many people from dying. But we cannot in any circumstances convince ourselves that it is enough. The number of new infections each day is still far too high. Intensive care staff are currently doing tremendous work under extraordinary pressure. I am deeply grateful to all of our doctors and nurses. Many are already reaching their limits. The Robert Koch Institute has announced that 410 people have died of COVID‑19 in the last 24 hours – a tragic reminder that behind the statistics are individual human lives, some of which are ending far too early, leaving families grieving for their loved ones.

Today, we thus have two messages for the people of Germany. Firstly, we thank them. In recent weeks, the vast majority of people have once again shown great solidarity and done their part to comply with the significant restrictions in place. Secondly, the Federal Government and the Länder want to be very clear that the current situation does not allow us to lift the measures imposed for November. We are still much too far from the target incidence of 50 new cases per 100,000 people over seven days. I remain convinced – and so does everyone who joined me for our meeting today – that we must continue to pursue this goal. It is not the only figure which allows us to assess the state of the pandemic. But it is the one which decides whether our public health service is able to trace all infections and break the chains of infection, or whether it is simply no longer capable of doing so, which is sadly the case in the vast majority of districts at the moment.

We were keenly aware today that people wanted us to offer them clarity for the rest of this year. That is their right. Our discussions were held with this in mind. The coming month of December, with Christmas and the New Year, is a special one. It is a time to celebrate for Christians in particular, but also for families in general. We have taken this into account in our decisions.

It remains essential for each and every individual to do their part. Infections occur everywhere that people mix without sufficient distance between them or without sufficient precautions. It is therefore crucial that all of us avoid all contact with others which can be avoided, that is, all contact which is not absolutely necessary; that we do not travel unless absolutely necessary; that we do not meet with others unless absolutely necessary; that we stay at home whenever possible.

I will explain more details of our decisions in just a second, but first I would like to reiterate our core message – we must now make another great effort. Our patience, solidarity and discipline will be severely tested once again. There are many reasons to believe that 2021 will bring us relief. This hope, particularly the hope of successful vaccines, is perhaps something that will help us to gradually overcome the pandemic and, until then, to maintain our patience and solidarity.

As I proceed to briefly outline our individual decisions, the summary is therefore that we must continue to avoid all non‑essential contact with others. We would like to ask employers to utilise every opportunity for remote working, and in particular to make it possible for people to work from home in the period from Christmas to the New Year, or to close their businesses during this time.

The Federal Government is being asked to try and reach arrangements with our European neighbours concerning travel to these countries, for example to ski resorts. I will say quite frankly that this will probably not be easy, but we will try.

As things stand, the measures introduced on 28 October will now all remain in place until 20 December. However, we assume – and the Federal Government and the Länder agree on this – that, due to the very high rates of infection, the restrictions will in all probability have to apply until the beginning of January, unless the incidence unexpectedly falls below 50 new infections per 100,000 people over seven days. That, unfortunately, does not seem likely for the moment.

We have agreed on some additional measures. This is unavoidable if we are to bring the infection rate down from its current plateau. Smaller shops must only allow one customer to enter at a time per 10 square metres of space. Retail spaces with a total area of over 800 square metres must only allow one customer per 20 square metres. For shopping centres, it is crucial that the total area of the entire space be taken as the basis for this calculation. Individual Länder may loosen this rule if they have a low incidence of under 50 per 100,000 inhabitants. At the moment, this appears possible for two Länder: Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

However, one other central topic of our discussions was the need to contemplate stricter measures in certain places. The Federal Government and the Länder already have a hotspot strategy which we have repeatedly approved and which applies from an incidence of 50 per 100,000. When this is the case, a rigorous set of restrictions must immediately be introduced. If rates of infection continue to rise, additional measures must be taken.

This hotspot strategy will continue to apply. Today, we have also discussed the need to further extend comprehensive general measures in places where the situation is particularly extreme, with an incidence of over 200 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in one week, spread widely across the population, in order to quickly bring these numbers down.

On a national level, I would like to highlight that, this currently applies to Berlin, if we count the city as a single district and 62 other districts. In these places, it must now be considered how to respond to the circumstances on the ground by perhaps introducing further measures in addition to those which already apply nationwide. These will doubtless vary from region to region. There are also districts where the incidence is above 300. In these places, even stricter measures will certainly be necessary.

We have decided to significantly expand the requirement to wear a face covering, which will now apply in all areas frequented by the public in city centres, as well as in workplaces. Universities and other higher education institutions must move to online teaching, with the exception of laboratory work and similar activities.

We are once again reducing the maximum number of people who can meet. The limit will now be five people from two households, although children under the age of 14 will be exempt, meaning that they can attend in addition to these five people. This is a stricter limit than in the previous week, in order to then enable Christmas celebrations with close friends and family – from 23 December until 1 January at the latest – with a maximum of ten people. Again, children under 14 years will not count towards this number.

We will be seeking dialogue with religious communities to ensure that no large events are held as part of Christmas celebrations.

We extensively discussed the fact that we agree on keeping schools open. However, this raised the question: What should we do if a very high incidence is once again seen in certain areas? ‑ To address this issue, we agreed on some additional measures, including the requirement for older pupils to wear face masks in all areas of their schools. When the incidence exceeds 200 – in other words, when the situation is extremely severe – further measures must be introduced for individual schools to adapt teaching for older pupils from grade eight onwards with the aim of improving compliance with the AHA+L rules. That is: social distancing, hygiene, the wearing of face masks, and ventilation. This may entail hybrid teaching or alternating schedules. Social distancing is of course an essential pillar of the AHA rules.

Our discussions naturally also covered financial compensation for December, which will be paid in the same way as in November. The interim financial help III package will also be in place until June 2021.

One important topic of our talks which I want to mention here related to vulnerable groups. As well as our plan to provide FFP2 masks, we also paid particular attention once again to the need for people in care homes and other facilities to be able to celebrate Christmas. Nobody must be left alone over the holidays. We will therefore do everything possible to find ways of enabling visits to these facilities.

All in all, it was a very in‑depth discussion – I have not been able to cover all of the details here – which has created clarity for the road ahead. It has also shown that this will be a challenging time in which we must continue to work on bringing down the number of new infections per day – which means continuing to reduce our contact with others! ‑ It was therefore necessary to tighten some of the restrictions in place. I believe we have reached a positive outcome which also opens up possibilities for celebrating Christmas and the New Year.

Thank you very much!