Germany’s daily COVID-19 infections near 250,000 amid Omicron wave – Macau Business

Germanys daily COVID-19 infections reached a new all-time high, with 248,838 new cases registered within 24 hours, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said on Friday.

The countrys seven-day COVID-19 incidence also continued to rise and hit a new record of 1,349.5 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the RKI.

The Omicron wave is slowly reaching the elderly population and more outbreaks are being reported in nursing homes, the RKI said on Twitter.

Despite record figures, the number of COVID-19 patients treated in intensive care units (ICUs) remained at around 2,300, far below the peak of around 5,700 during the height of the second wave in early 2021, according to the German Intensive Care Availability Register (DIVI).

Studies suggest that the Omicron variant causes a lower share of hospitalizations compared to infections with the Delta variant in infected persons with complete vaccination or booster vaccination, the RKI said in its latest weekly report.

So far, more than 74 percent of Germanys population had been fully vaccinated. A slight majority of Germans, or 53 percent, continued to be in favor of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for all adults, according to a DeutschlandTrend survey published by broadcaster ARD on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser said Friday that the government had made contact to the top management of the international messaging service Telegram to discuss hate speech on the platform.

In an initial constructive discussion on further cooperation, we agreed to continue and intensify the exchange, Faeser said on Twitter.

The messaging service caught the attention of German authorities after radical opponents of the countrys COVID-19 policies organized themselves via the platform. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) set up a task force last week to identify and prosecute suspects.

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Germany's daily COVID-19 infections near 250,000 amid Omicron wave - Macau Business