Covid dramatically increased death rate in US in second quarter of 2020, new CDC data shows

Germany’s coronavirus death toll is “very worrying,” the head of the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases (RKI) said on Thursday, as the country reported its highest toll in one day of 1,244 deaths from pandemic.

New Covid-19 infections “must reduce massively”, Lothar Wieler told reporters in Berlin, adding that “intensive care units have never been so exhausted as in recent days”. There are now 5,200 patients treated in German ICUs with 90% ventilated.

The average age of patients in intensive care units is around 60, said the head of RKI.

Germany is on high alert for new, more contagious mutations in the virus, Wieler said. Sixteen new cases of coronavirus associated with the UK variant and four new cases of coronavirus associated with the South African variant have been detected in the country.

Germany recorded 25,164 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, bringing the total to 1,978,590, according to the latest data from the RKI.

The RKI chief said the current lockdown in place was “not as effective as it was in the spring,” calling on German citizens to “stay at home whenever possible”, and urging employers to also allow employees to work from home.

Health Minister Jens Spahn on Wednesday disappointed hopes that Germany would be able to lift all coronavirus lockdown measures in early February.