BERLIN (AP) – The death toll from coronavirus in Germany has surpassed 50,000, a number that has risen rapidly in recent weeks, even as infection rates have finally dropped.
The country’s disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, said on Friday another 859 deaths had been reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 50,642 so far.
Germany had a relatively small number of deaths in the first phase of the pandemic and was able to lift many restrictions quickly.
But it has seen much higher levels of infections in the fall and winter. Hundreds of deaths, sometimes more than 1,000, have been reported daily in the country of 83 million people daily over the past week. Germany scored the 40,000 mark on 10 January.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier shines a light in his window at his Bellevue Palace in Berlin every Friday night in memory of the dead and those fighting for their lives, his office said. He encouraged other Germans to do the same.
Steinmeier plans to lead a central memorial service for the dead after Easter.
The lights are meant to be a sign that “the dead in the corona pandemic are not just statistics for us,” Steinmeier said. “Even though we do not know what their names and families are, we know that each figure is a loved one who we miss infinitely.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel made the comments this week, describing the recent death toll as “terrible”. Still, she said that daily infections are declining and that something is receiving less intensive care than over Christmas.
In Europe, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain, which all have smaller populations, there are still higher death rates.
The head of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar Wieler, said this week that the explanation for the high death rates was ‘relatively simple, but relatively depressing’.
“The increase is simply related to the fact that case numbers have increased so much,” he said.
Wieler said there are still many outbreaks at nursing homes – more than 900 at present. Some homes are better prepared than others to combat the pandemic, he said. There are also a large number of cases under the age of 80.
In general, new infections peaked in December. On Friday, the Robert Koch Institute reported 17,862 new cases, up from 22,368 a week ago. The total of Germany is so far a little over 2.1 million. The number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days was 115.3, after almost 200 a month ago. It is still well above the government’s target of a maximum of 50.
There are currently 4,787 COVID-19 patients in intensive care, said Gernot Marx, head of Germany’s intensive care association, DIVI.
It is down from a peak of almost 5,800 on January 3, he said: “it was in my opinion the most critical situation as there was intensive care in Germany.” He added that there was no sign of a Christmas or New Year peak.
Germany’s current exclusion was extended from this week to February 14 amid concerns over the possible impact of virus mutations such as the first time detected in England.
Authorities are trying to encourage more people to work from home, thus reducing the number of public transport. Restaurants, bars, sports and leisure facilities have been closed since early November. Schools and non-essential stores followed in mid-December, and professional sporting events took place without spectators.
Merkel says everyone in Germany will be offered a vaccination by the end of September. There was frustration over the slow onset of vaccinations. By Thursday, nearly 1.39 million people had received a first dose and more than 115,000 a second dose.
Britain has delayed the administration of second doses for up to three months so that it can give the first dose as much as possible. But Health Minister Jens Spahn has hinted that Germany will not follow suit, pointing to concerns about the lack of study data and the need for the most vulnerable and elderly people to receive ‘comprehensive’ protection.
“According to all the scientific basis we currently have, we will stick to the … recommended rhythm for the second dose,” Spahn said Friday.
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Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.