The coronavirus situation in Germany is still very serious even though infection numbers are not rising so fast, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said, after federal and state leaders postponed until Nov 25 a decision on further lockdown measures.

Merkel said she would have preferred to have agreed stricter rules at a meeting with federal and state leaders on Monday, adding she was very worried about the uncontrolled spread of coronavirus in some places, including the capital Berlin.

“Infection numbers aren’t growing exponentially anymore, but are still far too high. So we have to reduce contacts, reduce contacts, reduce contacts,” Merkel told a business event organised by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily.