Even countries previously spared the high death toll are now struggling with how to manage the crisis at a time that families traditionally come together to celebrate.

Germany has now entered Ah hard locked down until the 10th of January, with schools and non essential businesses closing after a record 952 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

Here in the UK, 60% of the population is now living under the country's maximum level of covert restrictions, known as Tier three.

Since midnight on Wednesday, Italy is considering a further tightening of measures over Christmas is the daily death toll remains close to 500?

Italy's now overtaken the U.

K is the country with the highest death toll in Europe.

Jenny Hill reports from Berlin.

There's little festive cheer as Germany prepared for a Christmas in lock down as shops, schools and hairdressers closed this morning.

Another miserable Marston more than 950 deaths recorded in a day.

Even taking into account statistical fluctuations, it's the worst death toll here since the pandemic began yesterday.

Shoppers thronged the streets ahead of the lock down.

Most surveys suggest Think it's the right course of action way.

Worry about the elderly in my family as they are at higher risk than we are.

I'm very pleased to see the new plan because the measures taken so far have not shown good outcomes.

Germany closed its bars, restaurants, arts and leisure facilities six weeks ago, but that did little to stop the spread of infection.

This country's health system may be robust, but it's under real pressure.

Some hospitals have had to turn patients away.

If you ask me, it's absolutely the right time to lock down.

Hospitals here are at breaking point.

We've already had to transfer patients because we don't have any more free beds.

So what's gone wrong for the country, which came so successfully through the first wave?

Scientists aren't sure, though some blame regional politicians who resisted Angela Merkel's calls for a tougher nationwide response earlier in the autumn.

I assume that, uh, people do not follow all the regulations that were that were told.

I mean we had to reduce our context by about 75% but I think that didn't work.

There's frustration to the vaccine developed by German scientists has been rolled out in other countries here, there still awaiting you approval for use.

It's hoped that will happen before the end of the year.

But for now, a country which loves its festive traditions has all that canceled.

Christmas.

Jenny Hill, BBC News Berlin So tough restrictions in Germany, but at a time that families are desperate to see each other.

How do we balance government restrictions with personal responsibility for our own and others health to find out I spoke to, said Cary Cooper, professor of organizational psychology at the University of Manchester.

Well, I think we have missed messages, don't we?

I mean, on the one hand, we have government saying, Have Christmas for five days with certain constraints, only three families together.

On the other hand, we have public health officials saying this is not a good idea.

There'll be a second spike in January.

This is very dangerous, and by the way, we have other public health officials who are saying probably a minority, saying, Well, for the mental health of the nation, we need this.

You know, for the elderly who are lonely for grandchildren who want to see their grand parents.

So there's a mixed messaging going on.

It's not as clear cut it looks.

It seems to me as Germany and France will, he said.

That's it.

We're gonna have to wait till January to do this, so I think that's creating difficulties.

But basically it's a risk assessment situation.

We're all in now because of the mixed messaging we're having to make our own decisions personal.

What are the risks for May?

What are the risk for my family, the elder people or the people with underlying health conditions in my family?

And it's a risk assessment that we're all going through to decide.

Well, should we go down and see those relatives?

We have some elderly relatives, you know?

That's problematic.

Do we go by public transport?

Do do we go by card?

Are we going to go it all?

Should we stay at home?

I think really, it's been left up to us personally, and the phrase is, use your common sense and I think common sense is great.

If you have common sense and you do your own personal risk assessment, not just for you, but for your other family members.

Then it will work.

And if we have enough people using their common sense, I think we could manage this process.

The difficulty is we have different kinds of personalities.

We have some people who are very risk averse.

They'll probably just stay at home and there in lies the problem.

We have different personalities and different views, most likely within the same family groups and at a time of year when people generally get together.

It's also a time of year when people generally have disagreements over one thing or another.

And this has the potential.

Two sparks, Um, conflict, doesn't it?

When people may disagree on whether it's safe to meet up Andi, others feel that it isn't How is best to navigate that?

Oh, I totally I totally agree with you.

I think that's what's going to happen.

There'll be within a family.

People who are very risk averse are going to go to the family but are worried about how the other members of the family are gonna operate and particularly operate the week before Christmas because that's the time in which they could get the infection and, for example, Children could be asymptomatic and so on.

They're still mixing with other kids and the light.

So I think you're right.

Even within a group of family group, we're gonna have that kind of issue.

I think each of us is gonna have to make our own risk assessment, given there is no clear cut answer either by government or public health, although they do have answers.

But the answers are different answers.

And therefore, every one of us is gonna have to use quote our risk assessment common sense to decide how we're going to manage this.

But I think it may be very problematic even within families during that four or five day period.

If you go if you go to see your family, Professor Sir Cary Cooper, speaking to me a little earlier.