of moral has talked to our chief political correspondent, linda crane. belinda, the new measures don't take effect until after christmas. wouldn't they do more good of introduce right away? in fact, not compulsory until after christmas, but some federal states will be instituting them sooner. for example, mecklenburg for carmen in the northeast of the country has decided that as of christmas eve, they will be putting measures into effect because intensive care bed capacity. there is severely strain. so there is some leeway nonetheless, no question. the authorities could have gone further, but the government faces something of a dilemma, terry, because the fact is that infection rates have been falling recently. and until these latest warnings, many people here in germany felt that things were looking up especially compared to late november when cases were much, much higher. but the fact is that at the moment we are in a low between 2 waves, the 4th wave that was caused by the delta variant is receiving. and that 5th wave hasn't hit yet. and that makes it very difficult for the governme

so let's get straight across to our chief political correspondent, melinda crane, in berlin. linda, an urgent recommendation from germany's institute for infectious diseases to cut social contacts. i do think the government is going to take notice. indeed the institute is calling for maximum restrictions and says they should be imposed immediately and continue into mid january. now this does in fact conform to the warning that we have just heard from the expert group that is now advising the new german government. it also has said that only crime is a high risk threat to fully vaccinated people, as well as those who have recovered from coven 19 and says that we are entering a quote unquote new dimension of the pandemic. but all of this absolutely presents a dilemma for the new government because in fact, and you mentioned this at the outset of the program, infection rates here in germany are relatively low, certainly compared to where they were at the end of november, early december. essentially, we are in the calm waters between 2 waves with the high wave that was caused by the de

so let's go now to our chief political correspondent, melinda crane, in berlin. linda, so far we haven't seen a surge in new cases here in germany is if the calm before the omicron storm that's certainly what it looks like. indeed, cases have been receding in comparison to the high levels that were reached in november. but essentially what we're seeing is the 4th wave largely caused by delta receding, but on the chron has already set foot in germany. a 5th wave is in the offing and fears are growing. that on the crime could in fact become the dominant variant here as soon as late january or early february, since as you know, it's far more infectious than previous variance. so a new expert panel, this advising the german government that recently came into office says that if the spread of omicron continues at the rate that's been, that's been going so far, a significant part of the population will fall sick. and experts say that ultimately could be in as many as a $100000.00 new cases per day. and this expert group is also warning that there is a very high risk even for

so let's go now to our chief political correspondent, melinda crane in berlin. linda, so far we haven't seen a surge in new cases here in germany. is this the com before the omicron storm? that's certainly what it looks like. indeed, cases have been receding in comparison to the high levels that were reached in november. but essentially what we're seeing is the 4th wave largely caused by delta receding. but i'm a chron has already set foot in germany. a 5th wave is in the offing and fears are growing. that on the crime could in fact become the dominant variant here as soon as late january or early february, since as you know, it's far more infectious than previous variance. so a new expert panel, this advising the german government that recently came into office says that if the spread of omicron continues at the rate that's been, that's been going so far, a significant part of the population will fall sick. and experts say that ultimately could be in as many as $100000.00 new cases per day. and this expert group is also warning that there is a very high risk even for

so let's get straight across to our chief clinical correspondent, melinda crane in berlin. linda, an urgent recommendation from germany's institute for infectious diseases to cut social contacts. or do you think the government is going to take notice? indeed, the institute is calling for maximum restrictions and says they should be imposed immediately and continue into mid january. now, this does in fact conform to the warning that we have just heard from the expert group that is now advising the new german government. it also has said that only crime is a high risk threat to fully vaccinated people, as well as those who have recovered from coven 19 and says that we are entering a quote unquote new dimension of the pandemic. but all of this absolutely presents a dilemma for the new government because in fact, and you mentioned this at the outset of the program, infection rates here in germany are relatively low, certainly compared to where they were at the end of november, early december. essentially, we are in the calm waters between 2 waves with the high wave that was caused by

or europe correspondent peter, all of his there. crane has been said to be one of the main topics this o se ministerial conference we heard from on linda, the swedish foreign minister as she opened up the session saying exactly, that's what we heard from said gala, for all the russian foreign minister is he addressed all of the ministers in the, the main conference whole here was that there was increase pressure of the worst case scenario coming true in europe. as long as the west continued to apply pressure at rushes, borders escape hospital as opposed to a nightmare scenario of military confrontation has returned to europe. but moscow categorically will not accept the transformation of the countries neighboring russia into a military foothold. before arriving here in stock home, we heard from us secretary of state antony blinkin, in which he, well, he said that washington on proof that russia was about to invade ukraine. in fact, if you watched the meteor in the united states, you'd be suddenly convinced that was about to happen. cnn, in particular, read in tooth and claw when it comes to condemnation of russia over this, these state