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Germany's Merkel: Restrictions have not yet changed trend in coronavirus infections

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that the latest restrictions have not yet changed the trend in coronavirus infections and added that they need more social distancing, per Reuters.

Additional takeaways

"We are a long way from the 50 per 100,000 per week prevalence rate needed to restore track and trace."

"State and national leaders will meet again Wednesday next week."

"I could have imagined imposing further contact restrictions today but there was no majority for that."

"Personal contacts between friends should be limited to one regular household."

"Next week's decisions will go further and apply for a longer period."

"We have at least stopped exponential case growth."

Market reaction

The EUR/USD pair showed no immediate reaction to these comments and was last seen gaining 0.05% on the day at 1.1839.

Author

Eren Sengezer

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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