The number of coronavirus deaths in Germany is “very worrying,” said the head of the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases (RKI) on Thursday, when the country reported the highest number of pandemic deaths in a single day, 1,244.
Infections with the new Covid-19 “are expected to reduce massively,” Lothar Wieler told reporters in Berlin, adding that “intensive care units have never been more exhausted than in the past few days.” There are now 5,200 patients being treated in German ICUs with 90% on ventilation.
The average age of patients in intensive care units is around 60 years, said the head of RKI.
Germany is on high alert for new, more contagious virus mutations, said Wieler. 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.
On Thursday, Germany registered 25,164 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total count to 1,978,590, according to the latest RKI data.
The RKI chief said the current blockade “is 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.
On Wednesday, Health Minister Jens Spahn dashed hopes that Germany would be able to suspend all measures to block the coronavirus in early February.