German New Coronavirus Cases Decline, Infection Rate Drops

(Bloomberg) --

Germany recorded a decline in the number of new coronavirus cases and the country’s infection rate dropped below a key threshold, as the country continues a gradual easing of restrictions on daily life.

There were 595 new cases in the 24 hours through Wednesday morning, bringing the total to 173,171, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Fatalities rose by 77 to 7,738 and the death rate was at 4.47%.

The estimated reproduction factor of the virus, which reflects the number of additional cases directly generated by one infected person, dropped to 0.94 on Tuesday, from 1.07 the day before, according to the latest situation report from the country’s public health authority, the Robert Koch Institute.

The decline in new cases seen in recent weeks has “flattened out and possibly reached a plateau,” according to the RKI, as the infection rate had been sightly above 1.0 for three consecutive days until Tuesday. “So far, we do not expect a renewed rising trend,” the institute said.

As officials try to get business activity up and running again, German state leaders are pushing to end mandatory quarantine restrictions for travelers returning from abroad. A court in Lower Saxony on Monday ruled that there were no grounds for a blanket requirement to self-isolate for 14 days.

North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Armin Laschet called the rule for all travelers “anti-European” in an interview with Rheinische Post and wants to scrap it in his state as soon as possible. His counterpart in Saarland, Tobias Hans, told DPA he favors removing the requirement in his state as well.

Austria and Germany plan to ease border controls on Friday and lift them completely by June 15, the Austrian chancellery said Wednesday.

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