(Bloomberg) --

Germany may come under pressure to impose a harder lockdown as the infection rate in the nation returns to January levels.

The topic will be front and center when Chancellor Angela Merkel is interviewed on the Anne Will show on German state television Sunday night.

German cases topped 28,000 on Saturday, more than three times the rate at the start of the month, underscoring the challenge facing authorities as they attempt to curb the pandemic’s spread.

Merkel’s chief of staff Helge Braun will probably hold a call with the offices of the heads of Germany’s 16 states on Monday, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke under the condition of anonymity.

The call with the chief of staff could lay the groundwork for a meeting between Merkel and state leaders, which could take place Tuesday, the person said. Bild newspaper on Sunday reported that such an emergency meeting may decide on stricter limits to check the spread of the virus.

Merkel last week made a rare public apology after she was forced to abandon a five-day hard lockdown over Easter just 33 hours after announcing it, throwing her government’s management of the pandemic further into disarray.

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