Coronavirus outbreak: 60-70% of Germans likely to be infected, says Merkel

"We will do what is necessary," Chancellor says

Germany will spend what it takes to tackle the coronavirus which is likely to infect up to 70% of the population in Europe's largest economy, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.

"We will do what we need to get through this. And then at the end we will look at what that means for our budget," she told reporters, seeming to distance herself from Germany's policy of no new borrowing.

Though conceding she did not know how the crisis would develop, Merkel said the risk was huge.

"When the virus is out there, and the population has no immunity and no vaccination or