Life can only fully return to normal once a vaccine against the novel coronavirus is found, an official from Germany’s disease control agency said on Tuesday.
Lars Schaade, vice president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), told a news conference in Berlin that hygiene and social distancing measures should continue for a long period, despite a recent slowdown in the rate of new coronavirus cases in Germany.
“LIFE CAN RETURN TO NORMAL ONLY WHEN VACCINE IS FOUND”
“Even if we came to a point where we have no new cases in Germany, a new wave would still be possible due to new infections from abroad,” he said.
“Until we have a vaccine available, and for the time being nobody knows if or when it will be available, we must continue our measures to avoid infection,” he stressed.
But Chancellor Angela Merkel also warned against complacency and urged citizens to closely follow social distancing measures to prevent a new wave of coronavirus.
The death toll from coronavirus in Germany reached 4,856 on Tuesday, while the total number of cases neared 148,000, according to data analysis firm Risklayer and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.