Germany recorded nearly 20,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, its highest level yet, the country's national disease control centre said. The total tally of coronavirus cases to 597,583 and the death toll in the country has come up to 10,930.
According to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Germany’s 237 new cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days was some seven times lower than in Belgium. Other European nations are also seeing a rise in coronavirus cases. The number of cases in Switzerland increased by 10,128. The total number of COVID-19 cases in Switzerland is now 202,504. 399 people were hospitalised on Thursday in the country.
Germany, thanks to a surge in cases, has gone into a four-week partial lockdown. Bars, restaurants, leisure and sports facilities will be closed and new contact restrictions imposed. Shops and schools remain open.
Thanks to a surge in cases, Britain too entered a four-week lockdown, with renewed calls to stay at home and for places of leisure to stay shut. Due to an increase in cases, Germany and Sweden is no longer included in England’s travel corridor. 'We do see an explosion.... in the sense, it only takes a couple of days to have over the European region an increase of one million cases,' WHO's regional director for Europe Hans Kluge told the Daily Mail.
Last week, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel had warned that Germany's health system could be overwhelmed if coronavirus infections continue to spiral. Germany’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said rising infections across Europe would make it harder for economic growth to rebound.
