Calls for "last, hard lockdown" as infection rate continues to rise in Germany

Germany’s infection rate continues to rise: according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the seven-day incidence rate rose to 134,4 as of Monday morning. A number of health experts are calling for a tough lockdown to combat coronavirus in Germany. 

Seven-day incidence rate rises to 134,4

The number of new coronavirus infections in Germany has risen once again. According to the RKI, the number of new infections per 100.000 inhabitants in the last seven days (the seven-day incidence rate) rose to 134,4 on Monday morning. The day before, the nationwide value was 129,7, and exactly a week ago it was 107. 

Health authorities in Germany reported 9,827 new coronavirus infections within the 24 hours to Monday morning. A further 43 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported. A week ago, the RKI recorded 7.709 new infections and 50 deaths. 

Health experts call for hard lockdown in Germany

In view of the increasing number of infections, the virologist Martin Stürmer has called for the so-called “emergency brake” to be consistently implemented by the federal government and the federal states. At the coronavirus summit on March 22, the federal and state governments agreed to tighten measures in areas where the seven-day incidence rate rose above 100. 

“We must now implement the resolutions very consistently,” Stürmer told public broadcaster ARD. “We really need a really tough lockdown to break this wave.” He added that increased testing alone was not enough to break the pandemic in Germany. 

His comments were echoed by Karl Lauterbach, the SPD party’s health expert, who has called for a “last hard lockdown” to combat the pandemic. “We can’t go on like this,” Lauterbach said during an interview with the radio station Westdeutschen Rundfunk. He called for a new coronavirus summit to impose a nationwide nighttime curfew for at least two weeks.

Germany’s intensive care doctors have also called for a two-week hard lockdown to prevent the healthcare system from becoming overloaded. The head of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Christian Karagiannidis, urged ministers to put an immediate stop to any planned easings of measures, labelling them completely inappropriate in light of the rapidly rising infection rate.