Germany is heading for a coronavirus lockdown after seeing a record number of infection and many hospitals already at full capacity after lockdown lite failed.
It will have to impose tougher coronavirus restrictions before Christmas to try to get the pandemic under control, ministers and regional leaders said today.
Germany has recorded 29,875 new coronavirus cases and 598 new deaths today, its highest ever recorded in a 24-hour period since the pandemic began.
The country has been in partial lockdown for six weeks, with bars and restaurants closed but shops and schools open.
And members of Germany s National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina launched an urgent appeal for a tightened lockdown on Wednesday.