Germany reported more than 112,323 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, a record-breaking number that prompted the country's top health official to call for mandatory vaccination before mid-year.
According to Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases, the current tall of COVID-19 cases in Germany is 8,186,850, while the number of deaths has reached 116,081 after 239 have been recorded. The wave is caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant that increased the country's seven-day incidence rate to 584.4 cases per 100,000 people, as per Reuters report.
Germany's Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said that the COVID-19 is expected to continue in the next few weeks. He also thinks that the COVID-19 infections will reach "the peak of the wave" by the second or third week of February. "Then the numbers could fall again," he said in an interview with RTL on Tuesday, as per US News.
"But we haven't reached the peak yet," said Lauterbach, who also believes that the current number of unreported cases is possibly twice bigger than the reported figures.
With the surge in infections, the health minister pushes for a compulsory vaccination among the population to be implemented as soon as possible to prevent another possible wave of infections if new variants emerge in autumn.
COVID-19 Numbers Keep Going Up
Last week, Germany recorded 80,430 new COVID-19, breaking the previous highest single-day record of more than 76,000 in November.
Since the start of 2022, the seven-day incidence rate in Europe's largest economy has been constantly high due to the outbreak of the omicron variant, which emerged in South Africa in November.
With the number of infections continuing to rise, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the premiers of Germany's 16 federal states have agreed to impose additional restrictions for restaurants and modified quarantine periods early this month.
Customers must provide certification of receiving a booster shot or a COVID-19 test result indicating negative results in addition to proof of vaccination.
Officials have also agreed to reduce the time spent in quarantine or self-isolation from 14 to 10 days if the person does not show symptoms or recovers from them. If the person is negative after testing, the quarantine time can be reduced to seven days.
German leaders also recommended wearing highly protective FFP2 masks in shops and public transportation.
Get Vaccinated
Scholz and the German premiers also highly encourage citizens to take advantage of the government's vaccination program as well as underscored to get booster shots for increased protection against Omicron and other COVID-19 variants.
In terms of travel, according to CNN, Germany requires individuals to complete a digital registration form before traveling. Those entering by plane is required to provide either proof of completed vaccination or negative PCR test result taken within 48 hours.
According to the European Medicines Agency, as COVID-19 sweeps through Europe, it gradually becomes an endemic disease like influenza, which humans can live with. The agency is in charge of evaluating and overseeing medical products in the EU.
However, several medical experts advise the public to take the Omicron seriously and continue to practice health precautions like wearing protective masks and getting fully vaccinated.
Related Article : WHO Predicts Half of Western Europe's Population Could Be Infected With COVID-19, Says Countries With Lower Vaccination Coverage Are At Higher Risk
