German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her government’s decision to extend a COVID-19 lockdown into March, as she issued a stark warning that new strains of the coronavirus “may destroy any success” already achieved in keeping the pandemic in check.
Merkel’s remarks before the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, on Thursday came a day after U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson cautioned Britons that they might need to “get used to the idea of vaccinating and revaccinating” to keep up with newly emerging strains of the deadly virus.
Merkel told lawmakers that the agreement between the federal government and state leaders to extend a nationwide lockdown until March 7, with an option to gradually reopen schools, day care centers and hairdressers earlier, was a prudent measure.
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