People are seen in the dining area of a shopping mall in Berlin, capital of Germany, on Oct. 14, 2020. New COVID-19 infections in Germany continued to rise, up by 5,132 within one day to 334,585, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said on Wednesday. (Str/Xinhua)
BERLIN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- New COVID-19 infections in Germany continued to rise, up by 5,132 within one day to 334,585, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said on Wednesday.
Compared to the previous day, the figures showed a leap of over 1,000 new cases. The highest level of new infections in Germany to date was reached at the end of March, with more than 6,200 within one day, according to the RKI.
"We expect the COVID-19 infection rate to increase this winter," said RKI President Lothar Wieler at a press conference with Minister of Health Jens Spahn in Berlin.
Currently, an "accelerated increase" of COVID-19 cases occurred in Germany and therefore the RKI urgently appealed to the entire population to commit to infection control measures, according to the latest daily situation report.
Vaccines against other respiratory diseases such as influenza would also play a "crucial role" in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic in the coming months, RKI said in a strategy paper published on Tuesday.
To avoid an overburden on Germany's health care system, influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates should be significantly increased, particularly in risk groups, according to the strategy paper.
"No one can predict how strong the flu wave will be each year," said Wieler. In Germany, the influenza season usually started around the new year and lasted for three to five months.
If Germany was hit by a similarly severe flu season in addition to COVID-19, which as respiratory diseases had similar symptoms, "then our health care system can reach its limits," warned Spahn.
The aim was to keep the flu wave in Germany at a low level, said Spahn, adding that in contrast to COVID-19, a vaccine against flu was already available as a "particularly effective measure."
Germany ordered 26 million doses of flu vaccine, almost twice as much as was vaccinated in the last influenza season, according to Spahn. He called on German citizens, and in particular risk groups, to get an influenza vaccination.
