https://www.theguardian.com/world/l...tbreak-cases-meetings-bans-update-latest-news
Germany: signs exponential growth curve of new infections levelling off for first time
Kate Connolly
In
Germany, there were signs that the exponential upwards curve in new coronavirus infections is levelling off for the first time due to the strict social distancing measures in force, the head of the country’s public health institute said on Monday.
However, Lothar Wieler, the president of the Robert Koch Institute, urged caution, saying many health authorities had not yet submitted their data from the weekend. “I will only be able to confirm this trend definitively on Wednesday,” he said. But he said he remained optimistic.
Germany has closed all its schools, and on Sunday ruled that no more than two people can gather at once, except for families or people sharing a household.
Wieler said that current data on Germany´s Covid 19 cases indicates that the average age of those infected is 45, the average age of those who have died is 82. Fifty-seven per cent of those with confirmed infections have so far been men, 43% are women. Of the symptoms people have experienced, the most common is coughing (55%) and fever (40%).
In his daily briefing, which has just ended, he appealed to German medical students to volunteer in the increasing effort to track all new cases, which he said continued to be an important part in the fight against the virus.
A nationwide collection data point called Cosmos, which is gathering data on how the illness is being fought, shows a considerable increase in awareness of the virus, but still a considerable gap between awareness and behaviour, he said. Mobile phone data monitored anonymously at the weekend, of 30 million mobile phone users, showed that people have considerably reduced their mobility, but still not as much as was necessary, he said. Keeping a distance, regular hand washing and sneezing or coughing into the elbow still remained the most effective ways to avoid the spread of coronavirus, he added. “Keeping your distance is the order of the day,” he said.
There are about 24,859 cases of coronavirus in Germany. There have so far been 97 reported deaths.
Wieler responded to reports that Germany was not being upfront with the number of deaths owing to the fact the figure is relatively low compared with other countries. He confirmed that in Germany anyone who has died having been diagnosed with coronavirus is registered as having died from the virus, even if they had other illnesses, or medical complications.
Meanwhile, Angela Merkel, who has been quarantined at home since yesterday after a doctor who administered a vaccine to her was tested positive for the virus, reportedly dialled in via telephone to the cabinet meeting of her government this morning.
