Germany passes 4M COVID-19 cases mark since start of pandemic

Intensive care nurse Sandy Plückhahn (L) and Mirjana Suljagic, X-ray assistant, prepare a patient suffering from COVID-19 for a lung X-ray in the intensive care unit of Bethel Hospital Berlin. The Bundestag will continue to debate the expanded Infection Protection Act on April 21, 2021, for uniform nationwide rules to contain the Corona pandemic to prevent overburdening the health care system.

by German Press Agency - DPA

Sep 05, 2021 2:02 pm

Germany has surpassed the 4-million mark for total coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, the Robert Koch Institute said Sunday.

A grand total of 4,005,641 infections have been reported, though the number is thought to be higher as many infections were not recorded. The total death toll is at 92,346.

The seven-day incidence rate of coronavirus infections rose again on Sunday to reach 83.1, nearly 10 points higher than just a week ago.

The country has moved away from using primarily the seven-day incidence rate to determine coronavirus policy, now taking into account hospital admission rates as well as other factors.

The number of coronavirus patients admitted to hospitals per 100,000 residents within seven days was reported by the RKI as 1.83 on Friday. By comparison, in late December, that figure was around 15.5.

However, a nationwide threshold value for when the situation should be seen as critical is not envisaged for the hospitalization incidence, among other things because of large regional differences.