BERLIN (Reuters) - There will be no big New Year’s parties in Germany this year, but families should be able to come together for Christmas, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday, in a message meant to reassure the nation as a month-long lockdown took effect.The lockdown, which includes the closure of restaurants, gyms and theatres, was necessary to protect Germany’s health system, said Merkel, warning that the number of people with the virus in intensive care units had doubled in the last 10 days. “The light at the end of the tunnel is still quite a long way off,” she told a news conference. But striking a more hopeful tone than when she presented the lockdown measures last Wednesday, the chancellor also said that if Germans reduce their contact with each other in November, they would be able to do more over Christmas. “It’s going to be a Christmas under coronavirus conditions, but it shouldn’t be a lonely Christmas,” she said. “I don’t think there will be big New Year’s parties, but that core family members will be able to visit each other, perhaps with protective measures.” Citing one example, she said families might be permitted to visit grandparents after a few days of “pre-quarantine”