Angela Merkel holding TV address. Says in frightening times we want to be close to our loved ones but #coronavirus means we show love by keeping or distance from one another /1
Merkel thanks all heath workers "from her heart". Thanks supermarkets employees for keeping food on shelves and working as cashiers so that everyone can get the food they need /2
German Chancellor says she appreciates difficulties for citizens to observe #coronavirus social distancing rules. Says gov action reducing personal freedoms should never be taken lightly. Growing up under communism, she certainly values hard fought democratic freedoms she said /3
But says Germans must keep their distance to win time so that Germany's "excellent health system" ,she said, wouldnt be swamped. She said this was the biggest challenge facing German society since WW2 /4
