KEY POINTS
  • "We have clear signs: The third wave in Germany has already begun," Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, told reporters during a news conference Friday.
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel had previously warned the country could be caught in a third wave of infections if restrictive public health measures were lifted too quickly.
  • Italy, meanwhile, is reportedly set to impose another near national lockdown over the Easter weekend in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.
People walk by a sign remembering to wear the mandatory face mask in the Munich downtown on March 4 2021. (Photo by Alexander Pohl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

LONDON — The head of Germany's public health agency on Friday warned that a third wave of coronavirus infections has already begun.

It comes at a time when the country has started to gradually relax lockdown restrictions, amid a government-led effort to speed up its vaccination rollout to as many adults as possible.