BERLIN, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Germany on Wednesday registered 7,595 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, taking the country's total tally to 380,762, according to data released by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
The death toll rose by 39 in one day to 9,875, according to RKI, the government agency for disease control and prevention.
RKI data showed that Germany has registered more than 50 coronavirus infections per 100,000 inhabitants over a one-week period, meaning that for the first time the country has breached its own critical limit for tackling the pandemic, German news agency dpa reported.
The so-called seven-day incidence rate, which is used by authorities to decide when to tighten restrictions, ticked up to 51.1 for the whole country at midnight, dpa said.
Germany is recording more daily coronavirus cases than at the start of the pandemic in March, although testing has been ramped up significantly since then, the report said.
The Bavarian district of Berchtesgadener Land, a popular vacation region near the Austrian border, registered the highest COVID-19 infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days, according to RKI.
With a 7-day incidence of 262 on Wednesday, the region clearly exceeded the critical threshold of 50 cases and Bavaria's government imposed a limited curfew on Tuesday. It was the first region in Germany where a limited curfew was re-imposed since spring.
As the world is struggling to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, countries including Germany, Italy, China, Russia, Britain and the United States are racing to find a vaccine.
According to the website of the World Health Organization, as of Oct. 19, there were 198 COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed worldwide, and 44 of them were in clinical trials. Enditem
