BERLIN (Reuters), Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to be vaccinated against COVID-19 on Saturday. She said that the fourth wave of cases had “dreadful” affected certain parts of Germany.

“We’re in an extremely serious position. She said that some areas of the country are in a very serious situation. There are overfilled ICUs, severely ill patients who need to fly across Germany for the treatment they require.

In the last of more than 660 podcasts that Merkel has recorded before giving over to Olaf Scholz, Social Democrat Olaf Scholz will next week.

“Get yourself vaccinated. No matter how old you are, it doesn’t really matter what vaccine it is. Every vaccine helps.”

German officials agreed to ban unvaccinated persons from all businesses except the very essential, such as pharmacies, grocery stores and bakeries. They also proposed to mandate vaccination.

Germany had 64,510 infections and 378 deaths on Saturday, making the death toll total to 102 946.

German hospitals are experiencing increasing pressure. Patients have been moved from intensive to wards before it is medically necessary, Gerald Gass of the German Association of Hospitals told Watson.

Gass stated, “We’re heading toward disaster medicine in some hotspots.”

Coronavirus cases have been on the rise in former Communist East, where vaccination rates are low and there is strong support for Alternative for Germany (which has opposed lockdowns).

Late Friday, police broke up an unauthorised demonstration by coronavirus opponents outside Petra Koepping’s home in eastern Saxony. This state has the highest number of new cases and the minister of health.