The Robert Koch Institute, the German federal disease control agency, held a press conference on the 10th local time to brief on the latest development of the epidemic in Germany.
Weller, director of the institute, said that the deteriorating epidemic in Germany for weeks was worrying, and every effort must be made to avoid the continued rise in the number of new infections.
Willer warned that the epidemic in Germany is changing very quickly, and it is even likely to return to a severe trend of exponential growth, so it is “extremely important for the people to strictly abide by epidemic prevention regulations”.
According to the latest data released by the Robert Koch Institute, as of 00:00 local time on December 10, a total of 1242,203 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Germany, an increase of 23,679 from the previous day, another record high since the outbreak of the epidemic; a total number of deaths is 20,372, new than the previous day.
Increase of 440 cases. On the 9th, Germany’s number of new deaths in a single day reached an all-time high of 590.
In Willer’s view, the frequent outbreak of cluster infections in pension and care institutions is one of the important reasons for the continuous increase in COVID-19 deaths in Germany.
According to the data, the number of cluster infections occurring in the above-mentioned institutions is almost twice that of the first outbreak in spring.
Meanwhile, more than 13,000 people in Germany’s coronavirus deaths are over 80 years old. The average number of infections in the past seven days in the country among 100,000 residents is 248.
Weller endorsed the recommendation of the German Vaccination Commission that the elderly, high-risk groups and health system practitioners should be given priority to vaccination against the novel coronavirus, citing the relatively limited number of initial vaccines.
In addition, the latest report of the Robert Koch Institute also shows that the infection situation in Germany varies greatly from region to region. In this regard, Weller believes that the reason why some federal states can control the epidemic more effectively is inseparable from the local government’s firm implementation of epidemic prevention restrictions.
He admitted that Germany’s “light blockade order” since early November has not worked as expected. If the epidemic is to improve, social contact needs to be reduced by at least 60%, compared with 40% is far from enough.
Therefore, there is no other way but to implement a “hard blockade”. Weller reiterated his call for continued adherence to hygiene regulations including maintaining safe distancing, wearing masks, frequent hand washing and frequent ventilation indoors, and to minimize non-essential social contact.” Only by working together can we usher in a turnaround!”
