Germany will on Sunday commemorate the 80,000 people who lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will attend a morning mass in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, a Berlin landmark dedicated to peace and reconciliation.
They will then take part in a ceremony broadcast on public television in the Konzerthaus, a concert hall in central Berlin, where Steinmeier will give a speech.
The number of guests has been limited due to the health crisis.
“It is very important to take a break and say goodbye in dignity to all those who died during the pandemic, including those who did not only succumb to the virus but also died in loneliness,” Steinmeier said when announcing the national commemoration.
People across the country have been invited to take part by lighting a candle in their window every evening this weekend.
The commemoration comes as the country battles a third wave, with infections and deaths rising again. This has been blamed on the spread of variants, believed to be more transmissible.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has also flagged that younger people — from 15 to 49 — increasingly contract the virus, which is putting further strain on the health care system as “younger patients stay in intensive care units longer than older ones.”
The number of seriously ill people over 80 has however stabilised, a fact attributed to the rollout of the vaccines. More than 21 million German residents have received at least one dose of the vaccines, with 5.4 million now fully inoculated.
Merkel appealed to federal lawmakers on Friday to back a bill that would see a uniform set of restrictions imposed across the country.
Currently, each region is able to mandate its own restrictions but the bill would force landers to impose the same measures, including nighttime curfews, the closure f ships and cultural and sports facilities, if the 7-day incidence rate reaches 100 cases per 100,000 population.
“The virus does not forgive half-measures, they only make it worse,” Merkel told lawmakers, describing the situation as “very serious”.
The Bundestag is to vote on the legislation next week.