Coronavirus: Fears of resurgence in Germany as infections hit highest number in 4 months

BERLIN • Germany has recorded its highest number of new coronavirus cases in nearly four months, prompting Chancellor Angela Merkel to rule out any further loosening of steps to curb the spread of the pandemic amid fears of a resurgence of infections across Europe.

There were 1,693 new German cases in the 24 hours through yesterday morning, the most since April 25, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That took the country's overall tally of infections to 225,404. The reported death toll rose by four to 9,236.

The number of daily cases reached almost 7,000 at the peak of the pandemic in the spring.

Dr Merkel said that a doubling in the number of daily cases in Germany in the last three weeks must be addressed. The recent trend "should not continue and we need to contain it", the Chancellor said in Dusseldorf, adding that fines will need to be imposed on people flaunting hygiene and social distancing rules.

"If we can manage this, the good news is that there is a lot of public life that we can allow to happen," Dr Merkel said.

There have been a number of outbreaks in recent weeks in settings such as larger family events and leisure activities, as well as in educational and professional facilities, according to the country's Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases.

Health Minister Jens Spahn suggested at the weekend that social gatherings should be limited to close family members for the time being.

Germany's reproduction factor - or R value - dropped to 1.11 on Monday, from 1.21 the previous day, the latest report by the RKI public health institute showed. That means 100 infected people are estimated to spread the disease to around 111 others.

The government is trying to keep the infection rate below 1.0 to prevent a fresh surge in infections.

Across the continent, officials are already tightening restrictions on movement again in an effort to prevent summer partying and travel from spreading the virus.

Spain and Italy have shut nightclubs and Greece has limited hours for bars and restaurants to try to avoid more drastic measures after the holiday season winds down.

Governments are desperate to foster a recovery after activity collapsed in the second quarter, but a failure to act decisively to prevent a widespread resurgence of the virus could mean more pain for the economy later on.

Nevertheless, the German economy is currently on a "recovery path" after the slump caused by the crisis and is expected to "grow steeply" in the third quarter of the year, Germany's central Deutsche Bundesbank said on Monday.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS, XINHUA