Markus Soder, Minister President of the region, is leader of the CSU, the Bavarian party which is in a permanent alliance with Mrs Merkel‘s CDU, and is considered a leading candidate to replace her when she steps down next year. However, he was forced to apologise on Friday after the revelation that 44,000 people – including 900 confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 – had been waiting for their results for more than a fortnight.