BERLIN, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, increased by 4,118 in Germany within one day to 31,554, announced the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention on Wednesday.
The number of deaths from the novel coronavirus increased from 35 to 149 by Wednesday compared to the previous day, said to RKI.
The number of infections reported by the health ministries of Germany's federal states was at more than 33,000 on Wednesday. "The cases are increasing, daily fluctuations are also to be expected, of course," said RKI President Lothar Wieler during the institute's regular press conference. Wielder added that "we must continue to wait and see if the measures take effect."
On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had announced a limited curfew for all of Germany to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Noncompliance with the contact ban can be fined with up to 25,000 euros (27,035 U.S. dollars).
So far, the mortality rate in Germany is low compared to many other European countries. "We do not know exactly why this is the case," but factors could be that testing was carried out on a large scale in Germany and thus many minor cases were also detected. In addition, not too many old people in Germany had yet been infected with COVID-19.
According to RKI, the average age of people who have died of the disease in Germany was 81. The average age of people infected with COVID-19 in Germany, mostly men, was 45 years.
Currently, studies were underway in Germany to treat COVID-19 patients with the antibodies of patients who had already recovered, noted Wieler.
"We are at the beginning of the epidemic," stressed Wieler. "It is still completely open how this epidemic will develop."
