German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that up to 70% of the German population will likely contract the coronavirus, suggesting that the government's priority is about "slowing its spread."

Germany has so far reported 1,565 cases of the virus and three deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, and the chancellor has come under fire for her government's handling of the response.

"When the virus is out there, the population has no immunity and no therapy exists, then 60 to 70% of the population will be infected," Merkel told a news conference in Berlin on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The country has over 82 million citizens.

"The process has to be focused on not overburdening the health system by slowing the virus's spread. It's about winning time."