Angela Merkel calls coronavirus greatest threat since WW2 as Europe death toll soars

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Rebecca Speare-Cole19 March 2020

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that coronavirus poses the greatest threat to the country since World War II.

Her remarks came as the death toll in Italy rose by 475 in just 24 hours on Wednesday to 2,978 - the biggest increase since the outbreak.

Meanwhile in France, fines for breaking the coronavirus lockdown more than tripled as new arrivals from Britain were told they could soon be turned back.

Delivering a statement to the German public on Wednesday evening, Ms Merkel said urged that the public take it seriously and that there had not been such a challenge to the nation since the Second World War.

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She said: "I truly believe that we will succeed in the task before us, so long as all the citizens of this country understand that it is also their task."

But the Chancellor added: "The situation is serious. Please take it seriously. Since German unification, indeed since World War II, there has been no challenge to our nation that has demanded such a degree of common and united action.

"Millions of you cannot work, cannot take your children to schools or kindergartens.

"Theatres, cinemas and stores are closed. And perhaps most difficult of all — we cannot have the contacts to one another that we otherwise take for granted,” she added.

“It’s natural that in a situation such as this, all of us has many questions and concerns about how things will continue."

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Germany has seen 11,973 cases as of Wednesday afternoon, with 28 deaths.

At the same time, curbs elsewhere in Europe intensified with Belgium going into its own “severe” lockdown, most border crossings into Spain from France and Portugal halted, and Sweden also closing high schools and universities, as infections and deaths continued to rise across the continent.

In the UK the number of deaths reached 104 with more than 2,626 cases up from 1,950 on Tuesday.

In Spain the death toll has hit 598 with 13,716 cases while an inquiry is set to be launched into the deaths of at least 17 residents in a Madrid nursing home, where dozens of cases of Covid-19 have been reported.

In France the number of confirmed cases reached 7,730, while the death toll rose to 175.

One of the most striking signs of the increasing desperation of authorities trying to control the virus came in France, where a new decree allowed police to fine anybody breaking the lockdown €135 (£123).

That is more than triple the €38 (£35) fine first introduced on Monday, with the increase prompted by concerns that action so far has not been sufficient.

French prime minister Edouard Philippe meanwhile warned that his country could “soon have difficulty accepting British nationals who move freely in their own country and then come to our country”.

Belgium has also seen 14 deaths and 1,486 cases.​

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