German minister warns of 20,000 new daily virus cases within days

Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that Germany’s health system could hit breaking point if coronavirus infections continue to spiral, after bringing forward high-level talks to decide on new restrictions to break the second wave of the pandemic. Mass-selling daily Bild reported that Merkel told party colleagues that the number of new cases is doubling every seven to eight days, while the number of occupied intensive care beds is doubling every 10 days. “It just needs to double again four more times and the system will be at a breaking point,” Bild quoted Merkel as saying, adding that she wanted to reduce the number of contacts people had.