Germany’s HDE retail association called on Wednesday for the government to give immediate state aid and tax relief to stop businesses going bust as stores closed to stem the spread of the coronavirus, losing 7 billion euros ($7.70 billion) per week. “Massive loss of turnover is destroying thousands of independent companies and millions of jobs,” HDE President Josef Sanktjohanser said in a statement that announced he had written to Chancellor Angela Merkel to ask for help. HDE said the ordering of store closures would lead to a loss of sales of around 1.15 billion euros per day or 7 billion euros per week.