Despite of the lock-down due to the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), people gather in Heerstrasse also known as the Cherry Blossom Avenue, a magnet for tourists from all over the world during blossom-time, in Bonn, Germany April 5, 2020. REUT
Germany saw the lowest number of new coronavirus cases in six days in a tentative sign that lockdown measures are easing the outbreak.
As restrictions across Europe’s largest economy enter their fourth week, infections rose by 4,031 to 100,123, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The death toll increased by 140 to 1,584 on Monday, the lowest daily increase in five days.
New cases and deaths have consistently dropped over weekends as regional health authorities have been slower to report figures.
Germany continues to have the third-highest number of confirmed cases in Europe after Spain and Italy. Its death rate, currently at 1.58%, is well below the levels seen in those countries.
Despite improving figures, government officials have warned that the worst of the crisis is yet to come. Helge Braun, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, said it’s critical to reduce the number of infections before taking decisions on easing social distancing rules.
The concern is that patients require ventilation for a longer period of time than initially anticipated "because more and more older people get infected,” Braun said to Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on Sunday.
Reports on Covid-19 related outbreaks in nursing homes and hospitals are increasing, according to the Robert Koch Institute. The number of deaths is relatively high in some of these outbreaks, the health authority said.
