BERLIN (AP) – The number of coronavirus deaths in Germany has surpassed 50,000, a figure that has risen rapidly in recent weeks, even as infection figures finally decline.
The country’s disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, said Friday that another 859 deaths had been recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 50,642.
Germany had a relatively small number of deaths in the first phase of the pandemic and was able to lift many restrictions quickly.
But it has seen much higher levels of infections in the fall and winter. Over the past few weeks, hundreds of deaths have been reported daily in the country, sometimes more than 1,000, in the country of 83 million people. Germany reached the figure of 40,000 on 10 January.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will leave a bright light on a window in his Bellevue Palace in Berlin every evening from Friday in memory of the dead and those fighting for his life, his office said. He encouraged other Germans to do the same.
Steinmeier plans to lead a central memorial event for the dead after Easter.
The lights are understood as a sign that “the deaths from the crown pandemic are not just statistics for us,” Steinmeier said. “Even if we don’t know their names and families, we know that each figure represents a loved one whom we miss infinitely.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed those comments this week and called the recent death toll “terrible”. Still, he said daily infections are declining and slightly fewer people are receiving intensive care than during Christmas.
In Europe, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain, with a smaller population, still have a higher death toll.
The head of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar Wieler, said this week that the explanation for the high death toll is “relatively simple but relatively depressing.”
“The increase is simply related to the fact that the number of cases increased a lot,” he said.
Wieler said there are still many outbreaks in the residences, more than 900 today. Some houses are better prepared than others to fight the pandemic, he said. There are also a large number of cases among those over 80 years of age.
In general, new infections peaked in December. On Friday, the Robert Koch Institute reported 17,862 new cases, up from 22,368 a week ago. The German total so far exceeds just over 2.1 million. The number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days stood at 115.3, after reaching close to 200 a month ago. It is still well above the government’s target of 50 at most.
There are currently 4,787 COVID-19 patients in intensive care, said Gernot Marx, the head of the German intensive care association, DIVI.
This dropped from a high of almost 5,800 on January 3, he said – “this was the most critical situation, in my opinion, as there has been intensive care in Germany”. He added that there have been no signs of a Christmas or New Year peak.
Germany’s current blockade lasted this week until February 14, amid concerns about the possible impact of virus mutations such as the one first detected in England.
Authorities are trying to encourage more people to work from home, thus reducing the number of public transport users. Restaurants, bars, sports and leisure facilities have been closed since early November. In mid-December non-essential schools and shops followed and professional sporting events were held without spectators.
Merkel says all Germans will be offered a vaccine in late September. There has been frustration with the slow start of vaccinations. As of Thursday, nearly 1.39 million people had received a first dose and more than 115,000 a second dose.
Britain has delayed the second dose by up to three months, so it can give the first dose as much as possible. But Health Minister Jens Spahn noted that Germany will not follow suit, and noted concerns about the lack of data from the study and the need for the most vulnerable and the elderly to have “comprehensive” protection.
“According to all the scientific basis we have at the moment, we will meet the … recommended rate for the second dose,” Spahn said Friday.
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Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.