Germany’s COVID-19 infection rate likely to be twice as number of reported cases, says Minister

Germany’s daily COVID-19 infections were likely to be two-fold higher than the number of officially reported cases, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said.

As per Lauterbach on Friday at a press conference, “The number of unreported cases is not known, but it can be assumed that the actual number of infections is more than twice as high. Unfortunately, it is not a good situation.”

According to the Robert Koch Institute, “Recorded infections remained near recorded figures as 296,498 cases were reported within 24 hours. The seven-day incidence per 100,000 residents slightly rose to a new record level of 1,756.4, as per reports.

German Health Minister said, “However, a high number of casualties, around 300 per day, and the impending overload of the health care system are unacceptable. We have come to a situation where we cannot simply wait.”

Lauterback defended the recent relaxing of nearly all COVID-19 measures in Germany but urged the federal states to use their right to tighten measures again for specifically critical hotspots.

Unvaccinated people should get a dose as they could “hardly avoid infection at the moment.” Although older people and those with pre-existing conditions were mainly at risk, nearly 90 per cent had not received a fourth vaccination dose.

According to official figures, as of Thursday, 75.9 per cent of Germany’s population had been fully vaccinated, with at least 48.6 million booster shots administered. However, 19.5 million people in the country remain unvaccinated.