WHO is indispensable partner for Germany, Merkel says

BERLIN - The World Health Organisation is an indispensable partner for Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, distancing her government from President Donald Trump's pause in US funding to the global body.

"The WHO is an indispensable partner and we support it in its mandate," Merkel told the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

Merkel also urged Germans to show endurance and discipline to get through the coronavirus pandemic that is "still at the beginning", and called for a bigger European Union budget to support economic recovery in the bloc.

Merkel is worried that Germans are relaxing their social distancing efforts after the federal and regional governments agreed to reopen some shops this week.

Germany has the fifth highest COVID-19 caseload behind the United States, Spain, Italy and France, but has kept fatalities down after early and extensive testing.

Germany has reported more than 150,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, with 5,315 deaths, but the latest figures showed cases where people recovered outnumbering new infections.

"It is precisely because the figures give rise to hope that I feel obliged to say that this interim result is fragile. We are on thin ice, the thinnest ice even," Merkel told the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

"We are still far from out of the woods," she said. "We are not living in the final phase of the pandemic, but still at the beginning."

Germany's gradual easing of restrictions provides for social distancing rules to remain in place until May 3. Schools will start opening from May 4, with priority for final-year students. Hairdressers can also reopen then.

Merkel and state leaders will meet again on April 30 to review how to proceed after May 3.

Christian Drosten, the top virologist at Berlin's Charite hospital, said on Wednesday widespread testing helped Germany early in the crisis. But, with the easing of the lockdown, he said: "I regret to see that we are perhaps about to lose this advantage."

Retailers whose shops are up to 800 square metres are now allowed to open, along with car and bicycle dealers, and bookstores, though they must practise strict social distancing and hygiene rules.

Merkel urged Germans to respect the rules.

"If we show the greatest possible endurance and discipline at the beginning of this pandemic, we will be able to return to economic, social and public life more quickly and sustainably," she said.

Reuters