Germany’s coronavirus reproduction rate has increased to 0.9 according to the country’s centre for disease and control, the Robert Koch Institute, meaning every 10 people with the virus infect an average of nine others.
That’s up from a reproduction rate of 0.7 a week ago, according to the Institute’s Vice President Lars Schaade.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has previously warned that if the number — also known as the R0 value — rises above 1, the country’s health system would eventually be overwhelmed.
Yesterday she expressed concern that some German states were moving to ease coronavirus restrictions too soon, saying it could undermine the results that have been achieved.
New cases slowing down: Germany now has 150,383 coronavirus cases and 5,321 related deaths, the Robert Koch Institute said on Friday.
The country reported 2,337 new cases in the past 24 hours — a slight slowdown, after three straight days of new infections accelerating.
