Coronavirus pandemic Germany reaches highest level since end of April: 1,707 new cases recorded
Berlin · According to RKI, Germany has recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases since the end of April. Although there is clearly more testing being done now, it says this alone is not the reason for the increase in cases.
The number of new coronavirus cases in Germany has risen to its highest level since the end of April. Public health authorities reported 1,707 new coronavirus cases in one day, the data coming from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Previously, the highest number of cases was on April 26 when 1,737 new cases were recorded. The peak in the daily reports of new cases was more than 6,000 at the beginning of April, followed by a significant drop. Since the end of July, the number of confirmed cases has been rising again.
The current increase in the number of cases does not allow direct conclusions about the rate of infection since the number of tests carried out has recently been increased dramatically. According to RKI data, in the week from July 27 to August 2, there were around 578,000 tests (submitted by 165 laboratories), but two weeks later the number of tests was already over 875,000 (submitted by 181 laboratories).
The figures may still change due to late notifications and may also include multiple tests of individual people. In the week from April 20 to 26, the number of tests was around 364,000 (submitted by 178 laboratories) - considerably lower than the present testing rate. The positivity rate then was five percent, currently it is just under one percent.
But the climbing number of cases cannot only be explained by the increase in testing, the RKI stated a few days ago. Epidemiology Professor Gérard Krause from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig echoed the statement with his own: "The increase in positive tests is not only due to the increase in testing."
Since the beginning of the corona crisis, at least 228,621 people in Germany have been confirmed to have the COVID-19 virus, reported the RKI. According to RKI, the number of deaths in connection with coronavirus is 9,253, with ten more deaths reported since the previous day. By Thursday morning, around 204,800 people had survived coronavirus according to RKI estimates.
The reproduction figure, or R-value for short, was 1.03 according to RKI estimates in Germany (previous day: 1.06). This means that an infected person infects on average slightly more than one other person. The R-value reflects the occurrence of infection about one and a half weeks earlier.
The RKI also gives a so-called seven-day R-value. It refers to a longer period and is subject to fewer daily fluctuations. According to RKI estimates, this value was 1.08 on Wednesday (previous day: 1.05). It shows the infection occurrence from eight to 16 days previous.
(Orig. text: dpa / Translation: ck)
