Germany also sees a surge in COVID-19 cases... "Schools may be re-closed"

Merkel "Urgent Need to Establish Criteria for Introducing Strengthened Quarantine Measures"

Germany, which has entered the 'With Corona' phase, is on alert due to the resurgence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). On the 2nd (local time), a woman was seen passing in front of a closed COVID-19 testing center in Frankfurt. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] The number of COVID-19 cases in Germany is increasing at an unprecedented rate. The German government is even considering re-closing schools.

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany's equivalent of the disease control agency, the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in Germany over the past week was recorded at 277.4 as of the 13th (local time). This surpasses the previous highest record of 263.7 set the day before, marking the sixth consecutive day of breaking the record. The figure has rapidly risen from 65.8 a month ago and 183.7 a week ago.

On the previous day, Germany reported 45,081 new COVID-19 cases and 228 deaths in one day. The number of hospitalizations per 100,000 people over the past week was also recorded at 4.7.

In response, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a nationwide video podcast, "The daily number of new COVID-19 cases is at its highest since the pandemic began, and tragically, many people are losing their lives every day," adding, "This is because the Delta variant of COVID-19 is more contagious, and still not enough people have been vaccinated." She continued, "There is a clear relationship between vaccination rates and the number of new cases," and added, "The situation is worse in regions within Germany where relatively fewer people have been vaccinated."

Therefore, she emphasized the need to quickly establish related criteria to introduce stronger quarantine measures across Germany. She argued that the federal government and the 16 state governments must unite to prepare criteria that allow for the introduction of additional quarantine measures and respond swiftly, while urgently increasing COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots.

Helge Braun, Chief of Staff to the German Chancellor, stated in an interview with Welt am Sonntag that the possibility of re-closing schools across Germany cannot be ruled out. Dr. Braun said, "Each state must reintroduce or continue to enforce mandatory mask-wearing in schools, and diagnostic testing must also continue," adding, "If the pandemic continues as it is now, the mortality rate will increase, so we must focus on vaccination."

In fact, Germany's COVID-19 vaccination completion rate has remained in the 60% range for three months. The first dose has been administered to 58.17 million people, or 70.0% of the total population, and 56.08 million people, or 67.4%, have completed the second dose. Only 3.57 million people have received booster shots.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.