Two German districts reach zero-COVID status as infection rate drops nationwide

The coronavirus seven-day incidence rate continues to drop in Germany, with just 19 out of 412 districts now recording an incidence rate above 50. Two districts have even reached so-called “zero-COVID” status. 

7-day coronavirus incidence rate drops to 22,9

According to the latest figures from the Robert Koch Institute, the number of new coronavirus cases per 100.000 inhabitants within seven days dropped to 22,9 on Tuesday, June 8. That’s down from 24,3 on Monday and 35,2 a week ago. 

Health authorities across Germany reported a total of 1.204 new cases of COVID-19 to the RKI in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning, a 33 percent reduction compared to the previous week, and the lowest seven-day average since exactly eight months ago, just before Germany’s second wave really began to take off. 

Nonetheless, the number of daily deaths is still higher than authorities would like, lingering in the low three-digit range. 140 people in Germany died from or in connection to COVID-19 in the 24 hours to Tuesday. A week ago, 153 deaths were recorded. 

Some German districts still have high incidence rates

The seven-day incidence rate has now fallen below 30 across all of Germany’s federal states, but there is quite a bit of variation between individual districts. The incidence rate is currently highest in Saarland, the country’s smallest state, at 28,5 per 100.000 people. Baden-Württemberg is close behind with a rate of 28. 

The incidence rate is lowest in Hamburg (16,7), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (8,7), Schleswig-Holstein (11) and Brandenburg (12,9) - but it is the state of Lower Saxony that is making headlines since it is home to two districts - Goslar and Friesland - that have not logged any new coronavirus cases for the last seven days and therefore have an incidence rate of 0 (the much-coveted “zero-COVID” status). 

On the other end of the spectrum, the incidence rate is still quite high in some parts of the country. The district with the highest case rate is Kronach in Bavaria, where the seven-day incidence rate is 83,9 - putting it well above the national average. In Zweibrücken in Rhineland-Palatinate, the incidence rate is 73,1.