Germany's Merkel considering additional lockdown measures – Bild

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering additional coronavirus-related lockdown measures amid heightened fears over the variant of the virus detected in the UK, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing German news outlet Bild.

According to the report, Merkel's measures could include shutting down local and long-distance public transport.

Earlier in the day, Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced that there were 25,614 new cases in Germany and 1,244 deaths.

Market reaction

This report doesn't seem to be hurting the shared currency. As of writing, the EUR/USD pair was virtually unchanged on the day at 1.2154.