German New Cases Lowest Since Late February, Infection Rate Down

(Bloomberg) --

Germany recorded the fewest new coronavirus cases since the end of February and the infection rate fell back below the key threshold of 1.0.

• There were 16 new cases in the 24 hours through Thursday morning, bringing the total to 186,522 according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That compares with 397 the previous day and almost 7,000 at the peak of the pandemic in late March.
• Fatalities also increased by 16, to a total of 8,752. The daily death toll has remained well below 100 since mid-May.
• The reproduction factor of the virus, known as R-naught, was at 0.86 on Wednesday, compared with 1.10 the day before, according to a daily report by the Robert Koch Institute. The government is trying to keep the figure below 1.0 to prevent exponential growth in the number of cases and a second wave of infections.
• The R-0 number represents the course of infection approximately one to two weeks ago and is sensitive to short-term changes, such as local outbreaks, especially if the number of new cases is relatively low, according to the health institute.
• The RKI also provides a seven-day R-value, which compensates for fluctuations. That value was also 0.86 on Wednesday, down from 0.90 the previous day.
• NOTE: Germany Extends Travel Warning Outside Europe Through August

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.