A record number of covid-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants were recorded in the previous seven days in Germany, with this percentage amounting to 201.1.
The previous record, 197.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, was recorded on December 22, 2020.
Although many more Germans are now immunized against covid-19, the vaccination rate remains stagnant below 70%, with authorities urging citizens to mobilize in recent days.
“In the coming months, there is an increased risk of infecting the unvaccinated,” Robert Koch (RKI) chief Lothar Wheeler said on Wednesday.
In the state of Saxony, where an average of 491.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants have been reported in the past seven days, new restrictions apply to those who are not vaccinated.
Only those who are fully immunized against covid-19 or those who have recovered from the disease will now be allowed inside the state restaurants. The same will apply to all events that take place indoors.
Only children and those who have not been vaccinated for medical reasons will be excluded from these new measures, the most restrictive in Germany.
Measures to address the situation
Meanwhile, the newspaper Die Welt reported today that the three German parties involved in talks to form the country’s next coalition government will present proposals to tackle the fourth wave of covid-19 in the country.
“Today we will present to the parliament a bill for the proper and decisive treatment of the coronavirus,” said Dirk Wiese, deputy leader of the Social Democrats (SPD) parliamentary group.
The plan, which will return the free diagnostic test for covid-19, comes from the SPD, the Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP), the three parties that together have a majority in parliament, and will be discussed later this week in Bundestag.
The aim is to bring into force before the state of emergency declared in Germany on 25 November.
The Bundestag is scheduled to consider the issue on November 11th and 18th.
The Greens and the FDP are pushing for the resumption of free tests, which were scrapped in order to pressure the Germans to be vaccinated against covid-19, but now those who refuse to be immunized do not seem to change their minds.
Doctors are backing calls to reduce the cost of diagnostic tests or even give them away for free. They explain that in this way the spread of the virus is limited, while at the same time there is a more complete picture of the epidemiological situation.
“Free tests can be an important tool, especially in the fall,” said Christina Assenberg-Dugnus, FDP’s health spokeswoman.
For his part, Bavarian Prime Minister Marcus Zeder called for more harmonization of state and federal government strategies to deal with the pandemic in order to avoid confusion.
Speaking to ARD television, Zender called for more mandatory coronavirus tests, a more decisive offer of repeat doses of vaccines and possibly the imposition of mandatory vaccination against covid-19 in some professions.
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