Germany Calls for Unity as it Mourns COVID Dead  

Germany held a national memorial service on Sunday for its nearly 80,000 victims of the coronavirus pandemic, with the president urging the country to put aside deep divisions over COVID restrictions to share the pain of grieving families.  

Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier joined an ecumenical service in the morning at Berlin's Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, a memorial against war and destruction, before attending a ceremony later at the capital's Konzerthaus concert hall.   "Today, as a society, we want to remember those who died a lonely and often agonizing death during this dark time," said Steinmeier.   "I have the impression that we as a society do not make ourselves aware that behind all the numbers there are human fates, people. Their suffering and their deaths have often remained invisible to the public," he said.