BERLIN (Reuters) – German health experts warned on Saturday against any further mitigation of coronavirus closure measures as the number of cases increased again, raising the possibility that infections could recur by mid-April.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for Infectious Diseases predicted that the number of cases reported daily could exceed 30,000 in the 14th week of the year from 12 April.
“An extrapolation of the trends shows that the numbers of cases can be expected from week 14 above the Christmas level,” the RKI said in its current situation report.
On Saturday, the number of COVID-19 cases rose by 12,674 and the death toll rose by 239, with the number of cases per 100,000 over seven days jumping from 76.4 to 76.1.
Germany’s death toll from the virus stands at 73,301, with a reported 2,558,455 infections.
The frustration over the continued exclusion and the slow pace of vaccinations hampered support for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Conservatives, also under fire due to a face mask scandal involving party lawmakers.
A small group of protesters braved rain in Berlin on Saturday to protest against the closure.
Merkel’s Christian Democrats have seen support in two states where local elections on Sunday will be a key measure of popular sentiment ahead of a federal election in September.
Merkel and state leaders agreed earlier this month on a gradual easing of the curbs, along with an ’emergency brake’ to reinstate restrictions if government numbers rise above 100 per 100,000 on three consecutive days.
The RKI report says that the rapid spread in Germany of a more contagious virus variant first detected in Britain could mean that the number of cases per 100,000 reaches between 200 and 500 in mid-April.
Leaders should meet again on March 22 to discuss whether any further relaxation of the rules is possible.
“We can only relax more if there are stable or declining case numbers,” Social Democrat health expert Karl Lauterbach told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper. It is unlikely to be likely any time soon.
Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Edited by Ros Russell