Germany enters strict lockdown as death toll hits new high

BERLIN • Germany entered a strict lockdown yesterday in an attempt to bring soaring coronavirus cases under control as the number of registered deaths from Covid-19 jumped by 952, the highest daily increase yet.

The previous record daily death toll was 598, posted last Friday.

However, the figures reported yesterday are not exactly comparable to previous days because they were inflated as a result of a technical problem in one state, according to the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases, which collects the numbers.

Fears that the pandemic is spiralling out of control in the country prompted Chancellor Angela Merkel and the 16 state governors to announce on Sunday a tough lockdown until Jan 10, at the earliest.

Shops and schools will stay shut from yesterday in a pre-Christmas tightening of restrictions following a partial lockdown last month, which closed bars and restaurants but failed to contain a second wave of the pandemic.

Germany was more successful than many other European countries in keeping the coronavirus under control in the first wave earlier this year, but the situation looks very different now.

The Robert Koch Institute put the number of confirmed coronavirus cases at 1,379,238, an increase of 27,728. The total death toll in Germany is 23,427.

The seven-day incidence of cases ticked up to 180 per 100,000 people from 174 on Tuesday.

Chancellor Merkel told lawmakers on Tuesday she was worried by the coronavirus trend and warned that January and February would be very tough months.

Germans are waiting for regulatory approval for a vaccine partly developed in their country even as other places, including Britain and the United States, are rolling it out.

REUTERS