Germany's Covid-19 cases hit record with curbs poised to expire

BERLIN (BLOOMBERG) - Germany registered a record number of new Covid-19 cases on Thursday (March 17), propelling the infection rate to a new high for the sixth straight day and raising alarm ahead of plans to lift almost all remaining curbs this weekend.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to hold talks with regional leaders on pandemic strategy later on Thursday, with Russia's war on Ukraine also on the agenda. While there is little appetite to reimpose nationwide restrictions as long as hospitalisation rates remain in check, some of the 16 state premiers are unhappy with the rapid pace of unwinding. The lower house of parliament is due to approve the legislation loosening measures on Friday.

"This is not a step by step process. It's simply a leap into the unknown," Bavaria Premier Markus Soeder said on Thursday in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio. "The health minister warns every day about new and dangerous waves and at the same time pursues the biggest easing we have ever had," he added. "That doesn't fit together."

Germany began easing Covid-19 curbs last month and most of the remaining measures are due to expire on Sunday. Some states including the capital Berlin have said they will keep restrictions in place until the end of this month.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has repeatedly warned against complacency, and said last Sunday that the outbreak could cause "many deaths".

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has changed the dynamic for politicians. Citizens have grown weary from the disruptions caused by more than two years of pandemic measures and are relatively less concerned. A survey published on Thursday showed 86 per cent of those polled said the war is an important issue, compared with 53 per cent who were worried about the pandemic.

In the 24 hours through early Thursday, there were almost 300,000 new infections, the most since the pandemic began two years ago, according to data from the RKI public-health institute. The seven-day incidence rate per 100,000 people has been climbing since the beginning of this month and is now at 1,651.4, the RKI said.

Germany hasn't experienced the steep drop in transmission seen in other countries, such as Britain and the US. Daily deaths from Covid-19 are still around 250 to 300 people, with another 278 reported on Thursday. At the same time, the number of Covid-19 cases in intensive care units is at less than half the level at the end of last year.

The rising infection numbers are partly due to the spread of the highly infectious - but apparently less deadly - BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron strain. It now accounts for about half the Covid-19 cases in Germany, according to the RKI.

Germany's vaccination campaign has ground to a halt in recent months, and lawmakers in the Bundestag will later on Thursday debate proposals for introducing mandatory Covid-19 shots.

As of Wednesday, just under 76 per cent of the population were inoculated against the virus, according to Health Ministry data, leaving about 15.6 million people over the age of four without protection. Around 2.7 million Germans aged 60 and older haven't been vaccinated.

"The time has come to pull back restrictions, but the states unanimously want basic protection," North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Hendrik Wuest said in an interview on ARD television on Thursday. The government should establish clear rules for "hot spots" and when and how that would trigger renewed restrictions, he said.