Germany coronavirus death toll tops 50,000 despite decrease in infections

A man with a face mask watches empty chairs with names of bars and restaurants on the Roemerberg square in Frankfurt, Germany
AP
Leah Sinclair22 January 2021

Germany passed the grim milestone of 50,000 coronavirus on Friday, days after Angela Merkel confirmed an extension of the county’s lockdown despite a recent drop in infections.

The  Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the government agency tasked with disease control,  said 859 more people had died from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 50,642.

The RKI figures are based on people who died directly as a result of the illness caused by the virus and those who contracted Covid-19 but whose exact cause of death could not be confirmed.

On Tuesday Chancellor Merkel extended Germany’s national lockdown until February 14, with schools, bars, restaurants and non-essential shops remaining closed.

The country entered a “lockdown light” in November but rules were quickly tightened in response to spiralling infection rates. 

In addition, the governors of Germany’s 16 states have agreed to require people to wear more effective FFP2 or KN95 masks on public transport and stores. Employers will also be instructed to let staff work from home to avoid a spread in infections.

On Thursday morning, the number of Covid-19 infections per 100,000 residents in seven days (the 7-day incidence) stood at 119.0 - the lowest level since November 1st.

But while infections have been decreasing, virologists are concerned about the spread of more infectious variants of the virus that have been found in the UK and Ireland.

“The infection numbers have been going down for several weeks or stagnating, and that’s good,” Berlin mayor Michael Müller told German television. “Now we are facing a very aggressive mutation that we have to respond to.”

“All our efforts to contain the spread of the virus face a serious threat,” Chancellor Merkel told reporters in Berlin. “Now is the time to guard against the danger posed by this mutated virus.”

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 17,862 to 2,106,262 on Friday, according to data from RKI.

Germany initially had a smaller number of deaths in the pandemic’s first phase and was able to lift many restrictions soon after.

The country has since seen much higher levels of infections in the second wave of the covid-19.

To mark the memory of those who lost their lives, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will leave a light shining in a window at Bellevue Palace in Berlin every evening starting Friday, his office said.

Mr Steinmeier also plans to lead a central memorial event for the dead after Easter.

The lights are meant as a sign that “the dead in the corona pandemic are not just statistics for us,” Mr Steinmeier said. “Even if we don’t know their names and families, we know that every figure stands for a loved one whom we miss infinitely.”

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