German Chancellor Angela | Markus Schreiber/AFP via Getty Images Merkel announces ‘radical measures’ to limit spread of coronavirus ‘These are measures that have never been seen before in our country,’ says chancellor.

Germany will take "radical measures" to fight the spread of coronavirus by banning people from traveling for pleasure and closing non-essential shops, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

Bars, theaters, museums, cinemas, leisure parks and non-essential shops will be closed and "there will be no tourist travels domestically or abroad,” with overnight stays only permitted for work-related travel, Merkel told reporters in Berlin.

"These are measures that have never been seen before in our country ... but they are necessary to reduce the number of illnesses and serious diseases and not to overburden our health system," she said.

Merkel said supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, post offices and other shops deemed as providing important services will remain open. Restaurants will only be allowed to open between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The chancellor also said that her government wanted to "maintain economic processes as much as possible."

According to a government spokesperson, it will be up to the 16 federal states to decide when these measures enter into effect. However, the spokesperson said that the states had coordinated with Merkel to adopt a coherent approach with the aim of implementing the measures as soon as possible.

Up until now, Germany's states have taken different measures to respond to the virus outbreak, some more stringent than others.

Merkel also said that she hoped border controls, which have been introduced by many EU countries in response to coronavirus, would be swiftly removed once the situation improves.

But she criticized a lack of coordination across Europe.

"It has become apparent that coordination has not always worked as well as one would have wished," she said, adding that the free flow of goods in the EU single market would continue.

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