Daily COVID-19 infections in Germany hit highest level since May

Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-13 00:01:07|Editor: huaxia

A health worker collects a swab from a passenger at Cologne-Bonn Airport in Cologne, Germany, on Aug. 3, 2020. (Photo by Tang Ying/Xinhua)

New infections with COVID-19 in Germany increased by 1,226 within one day to 218,519 on Wednesday, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

BERLIN, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The number of new COVID-19 infections within one day in Germany reached the highest level since the beginning of May, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Wednesday.

New infections with COVID-19 in Germany increased by 1,226 within one day to 218,519 on Wednesday, according to the RKI. The last time that the figure was higher was on May 9 with 1,251 new daily infections.

Daily COVID-19 infections in Germany had peaked at around 6,000 in early April. Numbers started falling in May but had been rising again since the end of July.

"Many smaller outbreaks" linked to larger family events, leisure activities or gatherings in educational facilities had been recorded all across Germany, according to the daily situation by RKI for Tuesday.

In addition, COVID-19 cases were "increasingly being identified among travelers entering Germany," according to RKI. In many of Germany's federal states, summer holidays have already ended or are about to end.

The latest development of new COVID-19 case numbers was "without doubt worrying," Germany's Minister of Health Jens Spahn told the German radio station Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday.

People are seen at Berlin Central Train Station in Berlin, capital of Germany, on Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

It was necessary to be "very alert," stressed Spahn, adding that there were "smaller and larger outbreaks" in almost all regions of the country. "And of course, if we are not all careful now, this can unfold a dynamic."

The RKI also stressed that a "further worsening of the situation must be avoided." This would only succeed if Germany's entire population maintained measures, such as keeping distance and hygiene, even outdoors, according to the institute.

A majority of Germans (68 percent) believed that the currently prescribed protective measures in Germany were "absolutely necessary," according to a survey published by the market research institute YouGov on Wednesday.

Only one in 10 said that protective measures were not needed, according to the survey conducted among more than 2,000 German citizens on behalf of the German Press Agency (dpa).

Passengers line up to have COVID-19 tests at Cologne-Bonn Airport in Cologne, Germany, on Aug. 3, 2020. (Photo by Tang Ying/Xinhua)

KEY WORDS:
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011102121392859701