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A record number of deaths has likely been recorded due to late data. Still, it reflects the seriousness of the situation.
Germany, the most populous country in the European Union, closed restaurants, bars, sports clubs and other places of rest and entertainment on November 2. The partial quarantine has helped stop the rapid growth in the number of new cases for some time, but it has not slowed the spread of the coronavirus.
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As a result, the authorities imposed additional restrictions on December 16. All schools, all outlets, except supermarkets, pharmacies, opticians, gas stations, auto and bicycle repair shops, banks and post offices, laundries and dry cleaners were closed. Beauty salons and hair salons also disrupted work.
These restrictions are scheduled to run until January 10. Chancellor Angela Merkel and the prime ministers of the 16 German Länder will discuss further steps on Tuesday.
“We have to mourn 1,129 dead this morning alone; 1,129 families will celebrate the New Year in mourning,” Health Minister Jens Spahn told a news conference.
“These figures show how brutally this virus continues to attack. However, the number of deaths and infections also shows that we are still very far from the normal life that we miss so much, the minister said. “So in that situation, I don’t see how we can go back to the pre-quarantine regime.”
“I predict that the quarantine will continue because we cannot increase the risk. Hospitals … are close to capacity,” said Armin Laschet, prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous country.
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The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s leading infectious disease research body, said on Wednesday that 1,129 people died from a coronavirus infection the day before. A previous record of deaths was recorded a week ago, when 962 people infected with coronavirus died.
The total number of COVID-19 victims rose to 32,107.
RKI chief Lothar Wieler said the “most likely explanation” for the record spike in daily deaths was delayed data. In recent days, the number of new infections and deaths recorded has decreased as no data was sent from the regions during the Christmas period.
Mortality was relatively low in Germany during the first wave of the pandemic, but hundreds of people have died from coronavirus infection in the country every day in recent weeks.
Among the main European countries, more deaths are registered in Italy, the United Kingdom, France and Spain.
Wieler called on the Germans to keep contact with other people to a minimum and said: “We are going to slow down the wind that drives the sails of the virus.”
It added that more than 5,600 patients had been treated for COVID-19 in the country’s intensive care units on Tuesday, mainly since the start of the pandemic.
The RKI reported on Wednesday that in Germany, it has 83 million. population, 22,459 new cases of coronavirus infection were detected last day, bringing the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 1.69 million.
Last weekend, Germany and other EU countries launched vaccination against COVID-19. The first dose of a vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech has already been vaccinated in Germany by 78,109 people.
Mr Wieler said that despite the vaccination that had begun, the Germans would have to comply for more than a month with the requirements of social distance, hygiene and use of masks.
“It will take more than a month to vaccinate enough people to reduce the circulation of the virus in society,” he said.
It is not yet clear what restrictions will remain in effect after January 10. Schools are the sole responsibility of the provincial governments.
Health Minister Spahn said it was “normal” to discuss what would happen to schools.
“When in doubt, I’d say they shouldn’t be running for another week instead of opening a week earlier,” he said.
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