Germany announces four-week shutdown as coronavirus cases spike

The decision came hours after Germany’s disease control agency said a record 14,964 new confirmed cases were recorded across the country in the past day, taking the national total in the pandemic to 449,275.

Germany, which has 83 million people, also record 27 more virus-related deaths, raising its overall death toll to 10,098, the Robert Koch Institute said Wednesday.

"We can say that our health system can cope with the challenge today," Merkel said.

Earler, the World Health Organization said that the European region — which according to its definition includes Russia, Turkey, Israel and Central Asia — accounted for almost half of the 2.8 million new coronavirus cases reported globally last week.

health agency said virus-related deaths were also on the rise in Europe, with about a 35 percent spike since the previous week, and that hospitalizations and ICU occupancy due to COVID-19 were increasing