The Robert Koch Institute reports almost 30,000 new infections with the coronavirus within 24 hours – the highest level in Germany since the beginning of the pandemic. This also applies to the number of deaths: 598 people died in connection with Corona.
The number of new corona infections reported to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) within one day and the number of deaths in Germany have reached a high.
The health authorities reported 29,875 new infections within 24 hours, according to the current figures. That is over 6,000 more than the day before, when a maximum of 23,679 cases had also been reached.
In addition, the RKI reported the second high within a short time with 598 new deaths. The highest daily number of 590 deaths was reached on Wednesday.
Well over 20,000 deaths
The total number of people who died with or with a proven infection with Sars-CoV-2 rose to 20,970.
In total, the RKI has counted 1,272,078 detected infections with Sars-CoV-2 in Germany since the beginning of the pandemic. It is estimated that around 942,100 people have now recovered.
According to the RKI management report on Thursday, the nationwide seven-day R-value was 1.03 (previous day: 0.99). This means that 100 infected people theoretically infect 103 more people. The value has fluctuated around 1 for a few weeks and represents the infection process eight to 16 days ago. If it is below 1 for a long time, the infection process subsides.
Debate about stricter measures
The new figures fuel the ongoing debate between the federal and state governments about an earlier and tougher lockdown. So far, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the 16 prime ministers have not been able to agree on a date for a joint switch.
The reason is that Merkel insists on tougher measures such as closing schools or retail outlets before Christmas. This meets with some resistance. Some state governments had also said for their part that before talks it had to be clear that a common line could be agreed.
Business closures likely
Consultations are planned for Sunday. A tougher lockdown with business closings by January 10 is now largely undisputed in view of the development of the number of infections.
