Germany's Covid incidence rate highest since start of pandemic

Germany has recorded the highest seven-day Covid-19 incidence rate since the begining of the pandemic early last year, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said.

The incidence rate on Monday increased to 201.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, up by almost 50 within one week, Xinhua news agency quoted the RKI as saying.

The previous record -- 197.6 -- was set during the second Covid-19 wave in December last year.

The RKI said that 15,513 new infections were reported over the past 24 hours, a week-on-week increase of 5,800.

On November 5, Germany recorded the highest ever number of daily infections -- 37,120.

According to the German Intensive Care Register (DIVI), around 2,600 patients received intensive care treatment on Monday, up from 2,000 a week ago.

At the peak of the pandemic in Germany in early 2021, the figure exceeded 5,700.

The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care could double in the coming weeks if the number of new infections continues to rise, Christian Karagiannidis, scientific director at the DIVI, told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper on Monday.

Although Germany is far from achieving herd immunity, the country's vaccination campaign has slowed down.

Till date, around 55.8 million people have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 67.1 per cent, according to the RKI.

As of Tuesday morning, Germany's overall infection tally and death toll stood at 4,801,149 and 97,167, respectively.