Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on Germans to stick to tighter coronavirus restrictions imposed in areas with high infection rates over the weekend, saying the step was needed to break a third wave of infections, Reuters reports.

"This is something new in our fight against the pandemic. And I am convinced that it's urgently needed," Merkel said in her weekly video podcast. "It serves the goal of first slowing down the third wave of the pandemic, then stopping it and finally reversing it."

"I am convinced that if we can now manage to reduce infections significantly and quickly, we will be able to relax them step by step in the foreseeable future," Merkel said. "Let us now do what is necessary again and together show each other respect and responsibility," she added.