Germany records slight uptick in infections, deaths remain relatively low

BERLIN — Germany’s disease control center says the country’s rate of corona virus infections has slightly increased but the number of new infections remains at a manageable level.

Lothar Wieler, the head of the Robert Koch Institute says the “R” factor — the number of people infected by every person with COVID-19 — is now 0.96. Authorities have said they want to try to keep it below 1 to keep the pandemic manageable for the health care system.

It had been around 0.7 before Germany eased lockdown restrictions on April 20 to allow smaller businesses to open, while keeping social distancing in place. It’s too early to say whether that move has led to the increase.

Wieler is urging Germans to keep abiding by social distancing, wearing masks while on public transportation or shopping and staying at home when possible.

He says Germany currently has about 1,000 new infections reported per day, down from a high of some 6,000. The virus has infected a total of nearly 160,000 people and killed about 6,000.

— AP