Thomas Schaefer, who was the finance minister for the state of Hesse has taken his own life in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. According to Hesse State Chief Volker Bouffier, Schaefer was very disappointed with the crisis.
“His main concern was whether he could manage to fulfil the huge expectations of the population, especially in terms of financial aid,” Bouffier, quoted DW. “For him, there was clearly no way out. He was disappointed and so he had to leave us. That has shocked us, has shocked me.”
The body of a man identified as Thomas Schäfer, the finance minister of the German state of Hesse, was found on a high-speed train line between Frankfurt and Mainz, police confirmed. https://t.co/VfYM1GyzSS
— DW News (@dwnews) March 29, 2020
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Bouffier added that he thought these worries probably surrounded Schaefer so much that, ‘He left us in this despair.’
Germany’s federal government has just introduced a relief package for those affected by the lockdown caused by the spread of COVID-19. According to state media, 54-year-old Schaefer has been seen regularly in several programs in recent days, where he gave details of his government’s aid package.
Police and authorities said that after reviewing all the incidents, talking to eyewitnesses and examining the scene, they came to the conclusion that Thomas Schaefer had taken his own life. Thomas Schaefer belonged to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union “CDU” party. He has been active in state politics for the past two decades and has been the provincial minister of finance for nearly ten years.
Germany due to coronavirus
Germany is massively affected by the Coronavirus spread in the world. Currently, 58,247 cases have been reported in Germany. Today, more than 550 new cases have been reported. Meanwhile, 455 deaths have been reported in Germany.
Thus far, 685,492 cases of Coronavirus cases have been reported globally. Moreover, globally 32,157 deaths are caused due to massive and exponential increase of the Covid-19.
The increasing rate of deaths in the United States
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the peak death rate in the United States from the coronavirus pandemic was likely to hit in two weeks and extended “social distancing” guidelines until April 30.
“Easter should be the peak number,” Trump said of the Christian holiday which falls on April 12.
“The modelling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks,” the president said during a televised briefing in the Rose Garden of the White House.
“It should start coming down — and hopefully very substantially — from that point,” he said.
Trump also addressed statements by one of his top medical advisors, Anthony Fauci, who estimated on Sunday that the virus could possibly result in 100,000 to 200,000 deaths in the United States.