Not just UK! Germany’s Covid rates hit highest level since May: ‘Situation escalating’

NewsroomOctober 25, 2021

35 2 minutes read

express– Seven-day coronavirus incidents reached 100 infections per 100,000 people on Saturday following a surge in cases in Germany. The number hit 100 after rising from 68.7 just eight days ago, the Robert Koch health institute (RKI) said. The grim milestone came a day after the German health ministry warned that “we are seeing an escalation of the situation”.

A spokesman added that the upwards trend “became visible in almost all age groups over the past week and it is to be expected that the increase in case numbers will pick up speed in the further course of autumn and winter”.

Germany recorded 86 new COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, with the country’s total toll rising to 95,077.

There were also 15,145 new infections recorded over 24 hours, the figure having risen 31 percent over the last eight days.

Germany’s DIVI intensive care association have sounded the alarm.

Senior DIVI expert Christian Karagiannidis wrote on Twitter that there was a “very close correlation” between incidence rates and new COVID hospital admissions.

He added: “The real fourth wave is beginning now and is gathering speed.”

And Germany is not alone.

Russia is reporting a record-high number of coronavirus infections and COVID-19 deaths as the country approaches a week of nonworking days aimed at stemming the sharp surge in cases.

The national coronavirus task force said Saturday that 1,075 people had died from the virus in the past day and that 37,678 new infections were tallied—the largest single-day numbers of the pandemic.

And Ukraine’s coronavirus infections and deaths reached all-time highs for a second straight day Friday.

Ukrainian health authorities reported 23,785 new confirmed infections and 614 deaths in the past 24 hours.

It comes after the UK has been lambasted for its Covid rates.

On Sunday, Britain recorded 39,962 new cases of COVID-19 and 72 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

EU citizens in Western Europe were reported as “watching conavirus cases and hospitalisations in the UK with increasing trepidation” on Friday.

Many health experts had criticised the dropping of most public health measures.

Chris Dye, professor of epidemiology at the University of Oxford, said: “The differences are pretty clear. Britain is really slack on public health.”

He was not alone in his assessment.

Quique Bassat, a pediatrician at the Barcelona Institute for Global health, added: “The UK is an outlier, because it does have quite high coverage of vaccination — and is still having 45,000 cases per day.”

Last week the NHS Confederation urged ministers to implement their backup strategy for winter to stop the virus from further spreading and forcing the UK back into lockdown.

The Government’s Plan B would “prioritise measures which can help control transmission of the virus while seeking to minimise the economic and social impact”.

Plan B measures would include mandatory face masks and coverings in crowded and enclosed spaces.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, warned the Government that the UK is “stumbling into a crisis”.

Two million people who are eligible for a Covid booster vaccine in England will receive their invitation this week as ministers seek to intensify the rollout.

The government has launched a media blitz encouraging people to get a booster jab, amid mounting concern over the speed of the vaccination rollout as Covid hospitalisations rise.