BERLIN, Nov 17 — The coronavirus situation in Germany is still very serious even though infection numbers are not rising so fast, Chancellor Angela Merkel said today, after federal and state leaders postponed until Nov. 25 a decision on further lockdown measures.

"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, noting that 30-40 per cent of the German population belonged to vulnerable groups. — Reuters