German governors, Merkel to discuss virus amid high cases

By FRANK JORDANS
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold talks with the governors of Germany’s 16 states amid growing concern about the steep rise in new coronavirus cases in the country. The video call between Merkel and the governors will take place Tuesday after Germany’s highest court rules on complaints filed against nationwide restrictions to curb coronavirus infections that were imposed earlier this year. Official figures showed 29,364 newly confirmed cases in Germany in the past 24 hours and 73 deaths. Infection rates have been particularly high in the east and south. Hospitals there are already transfering intensive care patients to other parts of Germany. Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania in the northeast and Saarland in the west are the latest German states to tighten virus restrictions.