The number of COVID-19 cases in Germany has passed 1,000, official data from the Robert Koch Institute disease control centre showed on March 9.
There are now a total of 1,112 confirmed cases in Europe's biggest economy, with the region of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) reporting 484 infections — the highest number among Germany's 16 states.
In a bid to slow contagion, Health Minister Jens Spahn has called for gatherings of more than 1,000 people to be scrapped across Germany, which could affect many events including Bundesliga football matches.
NRW state premier Armin Laschet said he planned to follow Spahn's advice in scrapping large gatherings in the state, meaning that several football games, including Saturday's derby between Dortmund and Schalke could be played in empty stadiums. Wednesday's game between Borussia Moenchengladbach and Cologne would also be affected, said NRW health minister Karl-Josef Laumann.
With measures taken to halt the virus hitting the economy hard, leaders of Chancellor Angela Merkel's right-left coalition agreed an aid package. The coalition "is taking action in the corona-crisis. Besides medical protection measures, we have agreed on a big aid package for the German economy," tweeted Markus Soeder, leader of Merkel's Bavarian allies CSU, calling the package "comprehensive".
