OREANDA-NEWS. The coronavirus epidemic has become the biggest challenge for Germany since the creation of the Federal Republic. This was announced on Thursday by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, making a statement in the Bundestag.

"We all - the government and parliament, our entire country - have faced a test that hasn't happened since the end of World War II, the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany", she said.

The Chancellor also claimed that during her tenure as head of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, no decision had yet been given her as hard as a decision to limit social contacts for citizens during the spread of coronavirus. "I assure you that hardly any decision during the chancellor was given to me as hard as restricting individual freedom", Merkel said.

The head of government also pointed to the need for protective clothing, in particular respiratory masks, in Germany itself. “A pandemic teaches us: it’s not good when protective clothing comes from distant lands”, she said. "The market situation for such materials is tense. Masks that cost a few cents can become a strategic factor during a pandemic", Merkel stated.