German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (Photo: Reuters)

At a news conference in Berlin following an emergency cabinet meeting, Merkel called for closer cooperation between the EU members in facing the political and economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, but seemed reluctant to endorse a debt sharing proposal by Spain and Italy. The European Stability Mechanism, a eurozone bailout fund worth 400 billion euros, has the tools necessary to cushion the economic impact of the pandemic, she said.

Merkel said the business closures and movement restrictions in effect in Germany since March 22 will remain in place. She said it’s still too early to talk about relaxing the lockdown.

“Austria has become the first EU country to lay out a plan to return to normal life. While Germany has moved forward with efforts to slow the spread of the virus, it is still too early to issue a timeframe for relaxing measures,” she said.